Method and apparatus for performing harq operation

ABSTRACT

A receiving STA can receive a first PPDU including a first data block and a second data block in a wireless local area network system according to various embodiments. The first data block and the second data block can be configured by a first index. Afterward, the receiving STA can transmit a retransmission request signal for the first data block. The receiving STA can receive the first data block again. Then, the receiving STA can combine the first and second data blocks configured by the first index.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present specification relates to a method and apparatus for performing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) operation in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system.

Related Art

A wireless local area network (WLAN) has been improved in various ways. For example, the IEEE 802.11ax standard proposed an improved communication environment using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and downlink multi-user multiple input multiple output (DL MU MIMO) techniques.

The present specification proposes a technical feature that can be utilized in a new communication standard. For example, the new communication standard may be an extreme high throughput (EHT) standard which is currently being discussed. The EHT standard may use an increased bandwidth, an enhanced PHY layer protocol data unit (PPDU) structure, an enhanced sequence, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) scheme, or the like, which is newly proposed. The EHT standard may be called the IEEE 802.11be standard.

The present specification proposes technical features that can be improved in a conventional wireless LAN (WLAN) or can be utilized in a new communication standard. For example, the new communication standard may be an extreme high throughput (EHT) specification that is being discussed recently. The EHT standard may use a newly proposed increased bandwidth, an improved PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) structure, an improved sequence, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) technique, a multi-link, and the like.

SUMMARY

The EHT standard can use the HARQ technique that checks whether the received data has no errors, and requires retransmission when an error occurs. In order to use the HARQ technique, a receiving STA supporting HARQ may attempt error correction on received data and determine whether to retransmit using an error detection code.

The receiving STA may have a buffer corresponding to the HARQ index number (or HARQ index) in order to perform the HARQ operation. Accordingly, in this specification, a receiving STA and a transmitting STA may propose a method for transmitting a PPDU based on the HARQ index number.

According to some embodiments, a method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system comprises receiving, by a receiving station (STA), a first Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the first PPDU includes a control field, a first data block, and a second data block, wherein the control field includes information related to an index of the first data block and the second data block, wherein the first data block and the second data block are set to a first index, transmitting, by the receiving STA, a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block, receiving, by the receiving STA, a second PPDU including the first data block, and combining, by the receiving STA, the first data block and the second data block set to the first index.

When an index is set to a transmission unit of HARQ (or HARQ unit), a method of constructing a PPDU based on the index may be required. According to an embodiment of the present specification, a transmitting STA may include the transmission unit of HARQ set to at least one index in the PPDU. Accordingly, there is an effect of efficiently operating buffer management of the receiving STA. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present specification, there is an effect of improving the throughput of the wireless LAN system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a transmitting apparatus and/or receiving apparatus of the present specification.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual view illustrating the structure of a wireless local area network (WLAN).

FIG. 3 illustrates a general link setup process.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a PPDU used in an IEEE standard.

FIG. 5 illustrates a layout of resource units (RUs) used in a band of 20 MHz.

FIG. 6 illustrates a layout of RUs used in a band of 40 MHz.

FIG. 7 illustrates a layout of RUs used in a band of 80 MHz.

FIG. 8 illustrates a structure of an HE-SIG-B field.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which a plurality of user STAs are allocated to the same RU through a MU-MIMO scheme.

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation based on UL-MU.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a trigger frame.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a common information field of a trigger frame.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a subfield included in a per user information field.

FIG. 14 describes a technical feature of the UORA scheme.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a channel used/supported/defined within a 2.4 GHz band.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a channel used/supported/defined within a 5 GHz band.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a channel used/supported/defined within a 6 GHz band.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a PPDU used in the present specification.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a modified transmission device and/or receiving device of the present specification.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a transmitting STA that generates a PPDU based on a Single-MPDU.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a receiving STA that receives a PPDU generated based on a Single-MPDU.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a transmitting STA that generates a PPDU based on an A-MPDU.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a receiving STA that receives a PPDU generated based on an A-MPDU.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of chase combining.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of an incremental redundancy (IR) method.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the operation of HARQ.

FIG. 27 shows an example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

FIG. 28 shows another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPD.

FIGS. 29 and 30 show another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

FIG. 31 shows another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

FIG. 32 shows another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

FIG. 33 shows an example of a retransmitted EHT PPDU.

FIG. 34 shows an example of a signal transmitted and received by a transmitting STA and a receiving STA.

FIG. 35 shows another example of a signal transmitted and received by a transmitting STA and a receiving STA.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart for explaining an example of an operation of a transmitting STA.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a receiving STA.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the present specification, “A or B” may mean “only A”, “only B” or “both A and B”. In other words, in the present specification, “A or B” may be interpreted as “A and/or B”. For example, in the present specification, “A, B, or C” may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B, C”.

A slash (/) or comma used in the present specification may mean “and/or”. For example, “A/B” may mean “A and/or B”. Accordingly, “A/B” may mean “only A”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. For example, “A, B, C” may mean “A, B, or C”.

In the present specification, “at least one of A and B” may mean “only A”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. In addition, in the present specification, the expression “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of A and/or B” may be interpreted as “at least one of A and B”.

In addition, in the present specification, “at least one of A, B, and C” may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B, and C”. In addition, “at least one of A, B, or C” or “at least one of A, B, and/or C” may mean “at least one of A, B, and C”.

In addition, a parenthesis used in the present specification may mean “for example”. Specifically, when indicated as “control information (EHT-signal)”, it may mean that “EHT-signal” is proposed as an example of the “control information”. In other words, the “control information” of the present specification is not limited to “EHT-signal”, and “EHT-signal” may be proposed as an example of the “control information”. In addition, when indicated as “control information (i.e., EHT-signal)”, it may also mean that “EHT-signal” is proposed as an example of the “control information”.

Technical features described individually in one figure in the present specification may be individually implemented, or may be simultaneously implemented.

The following example of the present specification may be applied to various wireless communication systems. For example, the following example of the present specification may be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. For example, the present specification may be applied to the IEEE 802.11a/g/n/ac standard or the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In addition, the present specification may also be applied to the newly proposed EHT standard or IEEE 802.11be standard. In addition, the example of the present specification may also be applied to a new WLAN standard enhanced from the EHT standard or the IEEE 802.11be standard. In addition, the example of the present specification may be applied to a mobile communication system. For example, it may be applied to a mobile communication system based on long term evolution (LTE) depending on a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard and based on evolution of the LTE. In addition, the example of the present specification may be applied to a communication system of a 5G NR standard based on the 3GPP standard.

Hereinafter, in order to describe a technical feature of the present specification, a technical feature applicable to the present specification will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a transmitting apparatus and/or receiving apparatus of the present specification.

In the example of FIG. 1, various technical features described below may be performed. FIG. 1 relates to at least one station (STA). For example, STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may also be called in various terms such as a mobile terminal, a wireless device, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile subscriber unit, or simply a user. The STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may also be called in various terms such as a network, a base station, a node-B, an access point (AP), a repeater, a router, a relay, or the like. The STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may also be referred to as various names such as a receiving apparatus, a transmitting apparatus, a receiving STA, a transmitting STA, a receiving device, a transmitting device, or the like.

For example, the STAs 110 and 120 may serve as an AP or a non-AP. That is, the STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may serve as the AP and/or the non-AP. In the present specification, the AP may be indicated as an AP STA.

The STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may support various communication standards together in addition to the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, a communication standard (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR standard) or the like based on the 3GPP standard may be supported. In addition, the STA of the present specification may be implemented as various devices such as a mobile phone, a vehicle, a personal computer, or the like. In addition, the STA of the present specification may support communication for various communication services such as voice calls, video calls, data communication, and self-driving (autonomous-driving), or the like.

The STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may include a medium access control (MAC) conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard and a physical layer interface for a radio medium.

The STAs 110 and 120 will be described below with reference to a sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1.

The first STA 110 may include a processor 111, a memory 112, and a transceiver 113. The illustrated process, memory, and transceiver may be implemented individually as separate chips, or at least two blocks/functions may be implemented through a single chip.

The transceiver 113 of the first STA performs a signal transmission/reception operation. Specifically, an IEEE 802.11 packet (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be, etc.) may be transmitted/received.

For example, the first STA 110 may perform an operation intended by an AP. For example, the processor 111 of the AP may receive a signal through the transceiver 113, process a reception (RX) signal, generate a transmission (TX) signal, and provide control for signal transmission. The memory 112 of the AP may store a signal (e.g., RX signal) received through the transceiver 113, and may store a signal (e.g., TX signal) to be transmitted through the transceiver.

For example, the second STA 120 may perform an operation intended by a non-AP STA. For example, a transceiver 123 of a non-AP performs a signal transmission/reception operation. Specifically, an IEEE 802.11 packet (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be packet, etc.) may be transmitted/received.

For example, a processor 121 of the non-AP STA may receive a signal through the transceiver 123, process an RX signal, generate a TX signal, and provide control for signal transmission. A memory 122 of the non-AP STA may store a signal (e.g., RX signal) received through the transceiver 123, and may store a signal (e.g., TX signal) to be transmitted through the transceiver.

For example, an operation of a device indicated as an AP in the specification described below may be performed in the first STA 110 or the second STA 120. For example, if the first STA 110 is the AP, the operation of the device indicated as the AP may be controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 113 controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110. In addition, control information related to the operation of the AP or a TX/RX signal of the AP may be stored in the memory 112 of the first STA 110. In addition, if the second STA 120 is the AP, the operation of the device indicated as the AP may be controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 123 controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120. In addition, control information related to the operation of the AP or a TX/RX signal of the AP may be stored in the memory 122 of the second STA 120.

For example, in the specification described below, an operation of a device indicated as a non-AP (or user-STA) may be performed in the first STA 110 or the second STA 120. For example, if the second STA 120 is the non-AP, the operation of the device indicated as the non-AP may be controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 123 controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120. In addition, control information related to the operation of the non-AP or a TX/RX signal of the non-AP may be stored in the memory 122 of the second STA 120. For example, if the first STA 110 is the non-AP, the operation of the device indicated as the non-AP may be controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 113 controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110. In addition, control information related to the operation of the non-AP or a TX/RX signal of the non-AP may be stored in the memory 112 of the first STA 110.

In the specification described below, a device called a (transmitting/receiving) STA, a first STA, a second STA, an STA1, an STA2, an AP, a first AP, a second AP, an AP1, an AP2, a (transmitting/receiving) terminal, a (transmitting/receiving) device, a (transmitting/receiving) apparatus, a network, or the like may imply the STAs 110 and 120 of FIG. 1. For example, a device indicated as, without a specific reference numeral, the (transmitting/receiving) STA, the first STA, the second STA, the STA1, the STA2, the AP, the first AP, the second AP, the AN, the AP2, the (transmitting/receiving) terminal, the (transmitting/receiving) device, the (transmitting/receiving) apparatus, the network, or the like may imply the STAs 110 and 120 of FIG. 1. For example, in the following example, an operation in which various STAs transmit/receive a signal (e.g., a PPDU) may be performed in the transceivers 113 and 123 of FIG. 1. In addition, in the following example, an operation in which various STAs generate a TX/RX signal or perform data processing and computation in advance for the TX/RX signal may be performed in the processors 111 and 121 of FIG. 1. For example, an example of an operation for generating the TX/RX signal or performing the data processing and computation in advance may include: 1) an operation of determining/obtaining/configuring/computing/decoding/encoding bit information of a sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) included in a PPDU; 2) an operation of determining/configuring/obtaining a time resource or frequency resource (e.g., a subcarrier resource) or the like used for the sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) included the PPDU; 3) an operation of determining/configuring/obtaining a specific sequence (e.g., a pilot sequence, an STF/LTF sequence, an extra sequence applied to SIG) or the like used for the sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) field included in the PPDU; 4) a power control operation and/or power saving operation applied for the STA; and 5) an operation related to determining/obtaining/configuring/decoding/encoding or the like of an ACK signal. In addition, in the following example, a variety of information used by various STAs for determining/obtaining/configuring/computing/decoding/decoding a TX/RX signal (e.g., information related to a field/subfield/control field/parameter/power or the like) may be stored in the memories 112 and 122 of FIG. 1.

The aforementioned device/STA of the sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1 may be modified as shown in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification will be described based on the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1.

For example, the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1 may perform the same function as the aforementioned transceiver illustrated in the sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1. For example, processing chips 114 and 124 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1 may include the processors 111 and 121 and the memories 112 and 122. The processors 111 and 121 and memories 112 and 122 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1 may perform the same function as the aforementioned processors 111 and 121 and memories 112 and 122 illustrated in the sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1.

A mobile terminal, a wireless device, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile subscriber unit, a user, a user STA, a network, a base station, a Node-B, an access point (AP), a repeater, a router, a relay, a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, a receiving STA, a transmitting STA, a receiving device, a transmitting device, a receiving apparatus, and/or a transmitting apparatus, which are described below, may imply the STAs 110 and 120 illustrated in the sub-figure (a)/(b) of FIG. 1, or may imply the processing chips 114 and 124 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1. That is, a technical feature of the present specification may be performed in the STAs 110 and 120 illustrated in the sub-figure (a)/(b) of FIG. 1, or may be performed only in the processing chips 114 and 124 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1. For example, a technical feature in which the transmitting STA transmits a control signal may be understood as a technical feature in which a control signal generated in the processors 111 and 121 illustrated in the sub-figure (a)/(b) of FIG. 1 is transmitted through the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (a)/(b) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the technical feature in which the transmitting STA transmits the control signal may be understood as a technical feature in which the control signal to be transferred to the transceivers 113 and 123 is generated in the processing chips 114 and 124 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1.

For example, a technical feature in which the receiving STA receives the control signal may be understood as a technical feature in which the control signal is received by means of the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the technical feature in which the receiving STA receives the control signal may be understood as the technical feature in which the control signal received in the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1 is obtained by the processors 111 and 121 illustrated in the sub-figure (a) of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the technical feature in which the receiving STA receives the control signal may be understood as the technical feature in which the control signal received in the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1 is obtained by the processing chips 114 and 124 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1.

Referring to the sub-figure (b) of FIG. 1, software codes 115 and 125 may be included in the memories 112 and 122. The software codes 115 and 126 may include instructions for controlling an operation of the processors 111 and 121. The software codes 115 and 125 may be included as various programming languages.

The processors 111 and 121 or processing chips 114 and 124 of FIG. 1 may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipsets, a logic circuit and/or a data processing device. The processor may be an application processor (AP). For example, the processors 111 and 121 or processing chips 114 and 124 of FIG. 1 may include at least one of a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), and a modulator and demodulator (modem). For example, the processors 111 and 121 or processing chips 114 and 124 of FIG. 1 may be SNAPDRAGON™ series of processors made by Qualcomm®, EXYNOS™ series of processors made by Samsung®, A series of processors made by Apple®, HELIO™ series of processors made by MediaTek®, ATOM™ series of processors made by Intel® or processors enhanced from these processors.

In the present specification, an uplink may imply a link for communication from a non-AP STA to an SP STA, and an uplink PPDU/packet/signal or the like may be transmitted through the uplink. In addition, in the present specification, a downlink may imply a link for communication from the AP STA to the non-AP STA, and a downlink PPDU/packet/signal or the like may be transmitted through the downlink.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual view illustrating the structure of a wireless local area network (WLAN).

An upper part of FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of an infrastructure basic service set (BSS) of institute of electrical and electronic engineers (IEEE) 802.11.

Referring the upper part of FIG. 2, the wireless LAN system may include one or more infrastructure BSSs 200 and 205 (hereinafter, referred to as BSS). The BSSs 200 and 205 as a set of an AP and an STA such as an access point (AP) 225 and a station (STA1) 200-1 which are successfully synchronized to communicate with each other are not concepts indicating a specific region. The BSS 205 may include one or more STAs 205-1 and 205-2 which may be joined to one AP 230.

The BSS may include at least one STA, APs providing a distribution service, and a distribution system (DS) 210 connecting multiple APs.

The distribution system 210 may implement an extended service set (ESS) 240 extended by connecting the multiple BSSs 200 and 205. The ESS 240 may be used as a term indicating one network configured by connecting one or more APs 225 or 230 through the distribution system 210. The AP included in one ESS 240 may have the same service set identification (SSID).

A portal 220 may serve as a bridge which connects the wireless LAN network (IEEE 802.11) and another network (e.g., 802.X).

In the BSS illustrated in the upper part of FIG. 2, a network between the APs 225 and 230 and a network between the APs 225 and 230 and the STAs 200-1, 205-1, and 205-2 may be implemented. However, the network is configured even between the STAs without the APs 225 and 230 to perform communication. A network in which the communication is performed by configuring the network even between the STAs without the APs 225 and 230 is defined as an Ad-Hoc network or an independent basic service set (IBSS).

A lower part of FIG. 2 illustrates a conceptual view illustrating the IBSS.

Referring to the lower part of FIG. 2, the IBSS is a BSS that operates in an Ad-Hoc mode. Since the IBSS does not include the access point (AP), a centralized management entity that performs a management function at the center does not exist. That is, in the IBSS, STAs 250-1, 250-2, 250-3, 255-4, and 255-5 are managed by a distributed manner In the IBSS, all STAs 250-1, 250-2, 250-3, 255-4, and 255-5 may be constituted by movable STAs and are not permitted to access the DS to constitute a self-contained network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a general link setup process.

In S310, a STA may perform a network discovery operation. The network discovery operation may include a scanning operation of the STA. That is, to access a network, the STA needs to discover a participating network. The STA needs to identify a compatible network before participating in a wireless network, and a process of identifying a network present in a particular area is referred to as scanning. Scanning methods include active scanning and passive scanning

FIG. 3 illustrates a network discovery operation including an active scanning process. In active scanning, a STA performing scanning transmits a probe request frame and waits for a response to the probe request frame in order to identify which AP is present around while moving to channels. A responder transmits a probe response frame as a response to the probe request frame to the STA having transmitted the probe request frame. Here, the responder may be a STA that transmits the last beacon frame in a BSS of a channel being scanned. In the BSS, since an AP transmits a beacon frame, the AP is the responder. In an IBSS, since STAs in the IBSS transmit a beacon frame in turns, the responder is not fixed. For example, when the STA transmits a probe request frame via channel 1 and receives a probe response frame via channel 1, the STA may store BSS-related information included in the received probe response frame, may move to the next channel (e.g., channel 2), and may perform scanning (e.g., transmits a probe request and receives a probe response via channel 2) by the same method.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, scanning may be performed by a passive scanning method. In passive scanning, a STA performing scanning may wait for a beacon frame while moving to channels. A beacon frame is one of management frames in IEEE 802.11 and is periodically transmitted to indicate the presence of a wireless network and to enable the STA performing scanning to find the wireless network and to participate in the wireless network. In a BSS, an AP serves to periodically transmit a beacon frame. In an IBSS, STAs in the IBSS transmit a beacon frame in turns. Upon receiving the beacon frame, the STA performing scanning stores information about a BSS included in the beacon frame and records beacon frame information in each channel while moving to another channel. The STA having received the beacon frame may store BSS-related information included in the received beacon frame, may move to the next channel, and may perform scanning in the next channel by the same method.

After discovering the network, the STA may perform an authentication process in S320. The authentication process may be referred to as a first authentication process to be clearly distinguished from the following security setup operation in S340. The authentication process in S320 may include a process in which the STA transmits an authentication request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an authentication response frame to the STA in response. The authentication frames used for an authentication request/response are management frames.

The authentication frames may include information about an authentication algorithm number, an authentication transaction sequence number, a status code, a challenge text, a robust security network (RSN), and a finite cyclic group.

The STA may transmit the authentication request frame to the AP. The AP may determine whether to allow the authentication of the STA based on the information included in the received authentication request frame. The AP may provide the authentication processing result to the STA via the authentication response frame.

When the STA is successfully authenticated, the STA may perform an association process in S330. The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA in response. The association request frame may include, for example, information about various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), a supported rate, a supported channel, RSN, a mobility domain, a supported operating class, a traffic indication map (TIM) broadcast request, and an interworking service capability. The association response frame may include, for example, information about various capabilities, a status code, an association ID (AID), a supported rate, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal-to-noise indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (association comeback time), an overlapping BSS scanning parameter, a TIM broadcast response, and a QoS map.

In S340, the STA may perform a security setup process. The security setup process in S340 may include a process of setting up a private key through four-way handshaking, for example, through an extensible authentication protocol over LAN (EAPOL) frame.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a PPDU used in an IEEE standard.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, various types of PHY protocol data units (PPDUs) are used in IEEE a/g/n/ac standards. Specifically, a LTF and a STF include a training signal, a SIG-A and a SIG-B include control information for a receiving STA, and a data field includes user data corresponding to a PSDU (MAC PDU/aggregated MAC PDU).

FIG. 4 also includes an example of an HE PPDU according to IEEE 802.11ax. The HE PPDU according to FIG. 4 is an illustrative PPDU for multiple users. An HE-SIG-B may be included only in a PPDU for multiple users, and an HE-SIG-B may be omitted in a PPDU for a single user.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the HE-PPDU for multiple users (MUs) may include a legacy-short training field (L-STF), a legacy-long training field (L-LTF), a legacy-signal (L-SIG), a high efficiency-signal A (HE-SIG A), a high efficiency-signal-B (HE-SIG B), a high efficiency-short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency-long training field (HE-LTF), a data field (alternatively, an MAC payload), and a packet extension (PE) field. The respective fields may be transmitted for illustrated time periods (i.e., 4 or 8 μs).

Hereinafter, a resource unit (RU) used for a PPDU is described. An RU may include a plurality of subcarriers (or tones). An RU may be used to transmit a signal to a plurality of STAs according to OFDMA. Further, an RU may also be defined to transmit a signal to one STA. An RU may be used for an STF, an LTF, a data field, or the like.

FIG. 5 illustrates a layout of resource units (RUs) used in a band of 20 MHz.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, resource units (RUs) corresponding to different numbers of tones (i.e., subcarriers) may be used to form some fields of an HE-PPDU. For example, resources may be allocated in illustrated RUs for an HE-STF, an HE-LTF, and a data field.

As illustrated in the uppermost part of FIG. 5, a 26-unit (i.e., a unit corresponding to 26 tones) may be disposed. Six tones may be used for a guard band in the leftmost band of the 20 MHz band, and five tones may be used for a guard band in the rightmost band of the 20 MHz band. Further, seven DC tones may be inserted in a center band, that is, a DC band, and a 26-unit corresponding to 13 tones on each of the left and right sides of the DC band may be disposed. A 26-unit, a 52-unit, and a 106-unit may be allocated to other bands. Each unit may be allocated for a receiving STA, that is, a user.

The layout of the RUs in FIG. 5 may be used not only for a multiple users (MUs) but also for a single user (SU), in which case one 242-unit may be used and three DC tones may be inserted as illustrated in the lowermost part of FIG. 5.

Although FIG. 5 proposes RUs having various sizes, that is, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, and a 242-RU, specific sizes of RUs may be extended or increased. Therefore, the present embodiment is not limited to the specific size of each RU (i.e., the number of corresponding tones).

FIG. 6 illustrates a layout of RUs used in a band of 40 MHz.

Similarly to FIG. 5 in which RUs having various sizes are used, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, a 242-RU, a 484-RU, and the like may be used in an example of FIG. 6. Further, five DC tones may be inserted in a center frequency, 12 tones may be used for a guard band in the leftmost band of the 40 MHz band, and 11 tones may be used for a guard band in the rightmost band of the 40 MHz band.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the layout of the RUs is used for a single user, a 484-RU may be used. The specific number of RUs may be changed similarly to FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates a layout of RUs used in a band of 80 MHz.

Similarly to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 in which RUs having various sizes are used, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, a 242-RU, a 484-RU, a 996-RU, and the like may be used in an example of FIG. 7. Further, seven DC tones may be inserted in the center frequency, 12 tones may be used for a guard band in the leftmost band of the 80 MHz band, and 11 tones may be used for a guard band in the rightmost band of the 80 MHz band. In addition, a 26-RU corresponding to 13 tones on each of the left and right sides of the DC band may be used.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the layout of the RUs is used for a single user, a 996-RU may be used, in which case five DC tones may be inserted.

In the meantime, the fact that the specific number of RUs can be changed is the same as those of FIGS. 5 and 6.

The RU arrangement (i.e., RU location) shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 can be applied to a new wireless LAN system (e.g. EHT system) as it is. Meanwhile, for the 160 MHz band supported by the new WLAN system, the RU arrangement for 80 MHz (i.e., an example of FIG. 7) may be repeated twice, or the RU arrangement for the 40 MHz (i.e., an example of FIG. 6) may be repeated 4 times. In addition, when the EHT PPDU is configured for the 320 MHz band, the arrangement of the RU for 80 MHz (i.e., an example of FIG. 7) may be repeated 4 times or the arrangement of the RU for 40 MHz (i.e., an example of FIG. 6) may be repeated 8 times.

One RU of the present specification may be allocated for a single STA (e.g., a single non-AP STA). Alternatively, a plurality of RUs may be allocated for one STA (e.g., a non-AP STA).

The RU described in the present specification may be used in uplink (UL) communication and downlink (DL) communication. For example, when UL-MU communication which is solicited by a trigger frame is performed, a transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may allocate a first RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU, etc.) to a first STA through the trigger frame, and may allocate a second RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU, etc.) to a second STA. Thereafter, the first STA may transmit a first trigger-based PPDU based on the first RU, and the second STA may transmit a second trigger-based PPDU based on the second RU. The first/second trigger-based PPDU is transmitted to the AP at the same (or overlapped) time period.

For example, when a DL MU PPDU is configured, the transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may allocate the first RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU. etc.) to the first STA, and may allocate the second RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU, etc.) to the second STA. That is, the transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may transmit HE-STF, HE-LTF, and Data fields for the first STA through the first RU in one MU PPDU, and may transmit HE-STF, HE-LTF, and Data fields for the second STA through the second RU.

Information related to a layout of the RU may be signaled through HE-SIG-B.

FIG. 8 illustrates a structure of an HE-SIG-B field.

As illustrated, an HE-SIG-B field 810 includes a common field 820 and a user-specific field 830. The common field 820 may include information commonly applied to all users (i.e., user STAs) which receive SIG-B. The user-specific field 830 may be called a user-specific control field. When the SIG-B is transferred to a plurality of users, the user-specific field 830 may be applied only any one of the plurality of users.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the common field 820 and the user-specific field 830 may be separately encoded.

The common field 820 may include RU allocation information of N*8 bits. For example, the RU allocation information may include information related to a location of an RU. For example, when a 20 MHz channel is used as shown in FIG. 5, the RU allocation information may include information related to a specific frequency band to which a specific RU (26-RU/52-RU/106-RU) is arranged. An example of a case in which the RU allocation information consists of 8 bits is as follows.

TABLE 1 8 bits indices (B7 B6 B5 B4 Number B3 B2 B1 B0) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 of entries 00000000 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 1 00000001 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 52 1 00000010 26 26 26 26 26 52 26 26 1 00000011 26 26 26 26 26 52 52 1 00000100 26 26 52 26 26 26 26 26 1 00000101 26 26 52 26 26 26 52 1 00000110 26 26 52 26 52 26 26 1 00000111 26 26 52 26 52 52 1 00001000 52 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 1

As shown the example of FIG. 5, up to nine 26-RUs may be allocated to the 20 MHz channel. When the RU allocation information of the common field 820 is set to “00000000” as shown in Table 1, the nine 26-RUs may be allocated to a corresponding channel (i.e., 20 MHz). In addition, when the RU allocation information of the common field 820 is set to “00000001” as shown in Table 1, seven 26-RUs and one 52-RU are arranged in a corresponding channel. That is, in the example of FIG. 5, the 52-RU may be allocated to the rightmost side, and the seven 26-RUs may be allocated to the left thereof.

The example of Table 1 shows only some of RU locations capable of displaying the RU allocation information.

For example, the RU allocation information may include an example of Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 8 bits indices (B7 B6 B5 B4 Number B3 B2 B1 B0) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 of entries z z z z z z z z z z z 01000y₂y₁y₀ 106 26 26 26 26 26 8 01001y₂y₁y₀ 106 26 26 26 52 8

“01000y2y1y0” relates to an example in which a 106-RU is allocated to the leftmost side of the 20 MHz channel, and five 26-RUs are allocated to the right side thereof. In this case, a plurality of STAs (e.g., user-STAs) may be allocated to the 106-RU, based on a MU-MIMO scheme. Specifically, up to 8 STAs (e.g., user-STAs) may be allocated to the 106-RU, and the number of STAs (e.g., user-STAs) allocated to the 106-RU is determined based on 3-bit information (y2y1y0). For example, when the 3-bit information (y2y1y0) is set to N, the number of STAs (e.g., user-STAs) allocated to the 106-RU based on the MU-MIMO scheme may be N+1.

In general, a plurality of STAs (e.g., user STAs) different from each other may be allocated to a plurality of RUs. However, the plurality of STAs (e.g., user STAs) may be allocated to one or more RUs having at least a specific size (e.g., 106 subcarriers), based on the MU-MIMO scheme.

As shown in FIG. 8, the user-specific field 830 may include a plurality of user fields. As described above, the number of STAs (e.g., user STAs) allocated to a specific channel may be determined based on the RU allocation information of the common field 820. For example, when the RU allocation information of the common field 820 is “00000000”, one user STA may be allocated to each of nine 26-RUs (e.g., nine user STAs may be allocated). That is, up to 9 user STAs may be allocated to a specific channel through an OFDMA scheme. In other words, up to 9 user STAs may be allocated to a specific channel through a non-MU-MIMO scheme.

For example, when RU allocation is set to “01000y2y1y0”, a plurality of STAs may be allocated to the 106-RU arranged at the leftmost side through the MU-MIMO scheme, and five user STAs may be allocated to five 26-RUs arranged to the right side thereof through the non-MU MIMO scheme. This case is specified through an example of FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which a plurality of user STAs are allocated to the same RU through a MU-MIMO scheme.

For example, when RU allocation is set to “01000010” as shown in FIG. 9, a 106-RU may be allocated to the leftmost side of a specific channel, and five 26-RUs may be allocated to the right side thereof. In addition, three user STAs may be allocated to the 106-RU through the MU-MIMO scheme. As a result, since eight user STAs are allocated, the user-specific field 830 of HE-SIG-B may include eight user fields.

The eight user fields may be expressed in the order shown in FIG. 9. In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, two user fields may be implemented with one user block field.

The user fields shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 may be configured based on two formats. That is, a user field related to a MU-MIMO scheme may be configured in a first format, and a user field related to a non-MIMO scheme may be configured in a second format. Referring to the example of FIG. 9, a user field 1 to a user field 3 may be based on the first format, and a user field 4 to a user field 8 may be based on the second format. The first format or the second format may include bit information of the same length (e.g., 21 bits). Each user field may have the same size (e.g., 21 bits). For example, the user field of the first format (the first of the MU-MIMO scheme) may be configured as follows. For example, a first bit (i.e., B0-B10) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include identification information (e.g., STA-ID, partial AID, etc.) of a user STA to which a corresponding user field is allocated. In addition, a second bit (i.e., B11-B14) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include information related to a spatial configuration. Specifically, an example of the second bit (i.e., B11-B14) may be as shown in Table 3 and Table 4 below.

TABLE 3 N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) Total Number N_(user) B3 . . . B0 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] N_(STS) of entries 2 0000-0011 1-4 1 z z z z 2-5 10 0100-0110 2-4 2 4-6 0111-1000 3-4 3 6-7 1001 4 4 8 3 0000-0011 1-4 1 1 3-6 13 0100-0110 2-4 2 1 5-7 0111-1000 3-4 3 1 7-8 1001-1011 2-4 2 2 6-8 1100 3 3 2 8 4 0000-0011 1-4 1 1 1 4-7 11 0100-0110 2-4 2 1 1 6-8 0111 3 3 1 1 8 1000-1001 2-3 2 2 1 7-8 1010 2 2 2 2 8

TABLE 4 N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) N_(STS) Total Number N_(user) B3 . . . B0 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] N_(STS) of entries 5 0000-0011 1-4 1 1 1 1 5-8 7 0100-0101 2-3 2 1 1 1 7-8 0110 2 2 2 1 1 8 6 0000-0010 1-3 1 1 1 1 1 6-8 4 0011 2 2 1 1 1 1 8 7 0000-0001 1-2 1 1 1 1 1 1 7-8 2 8 0000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 1

As shown in Table 3 and/or Table 4, the second bit (e.g., B11-B14) may include information related to the number of spatial streams allocated to the plurality of user STAs which are allocated based on the MU-MIMO scheme. For example, when three user STAs are allocated to the 106-RU based on the MU-MIMO scheme as shown in FIG. 9, N_user is set to “3”. Therefore, values of N_STS[1], N_STS[2], and N_STS[3] may be determined as shown in Table 3. For example, when a values of the second bit (B11-B14) is “0011”, it may be set to N_STS[1]=4, N_STS[2]=1, N_STS[3]=1. That is, in the example of FIG. 9, four spatial streams may be allocated to the user field 1, one spatial stream may be allocated to the user field 1, and one spatial stream may be allocated to the user field 3.

As shown in the example of Table 3 and/or Table 4, information (i.e., the second bit, B11-B14) related to the number of spatial streams for the user STA may consist of 4 bits. In addition, the information (i.e., the second bit, B11-B14) on the number of spatial streams for the user STA may support up to eight spatial streams. In addition, the information (i.e., the second bit, B11-B14) on the number of spatial streams for the user STA may support up to four spatial streams for one user STA.

In addition, a third bit (i.e., B15-18) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information. The MCS information may be applied to a data field in a PPDU including corresponding SIG-B.

An MCS, MCS information, an MCS index, an MCS field, or the like used in the present specification may be indicated by an index value. For example, the MCS information may be indicated by an index 0 to an index 11. The MCS information may include information related to a constellation modulation type (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024-QAM, etc.) and information related to a coding rate (e.g., 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6e, etc.). Information related to a channel coding type (e.g., LCC or LDPC) may be excluded in the MCS information.

In addition, a fourth bit (i.e., B19) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may be a reserved field.

In addition, a fifth bit (i.e., B20) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include information related to a coding type (e.g., BCC or LDPC). That is, the fifth bit (i.e., B20) may include information related to a type (e.g., BCC or LDPC) of channel coding applied to the data field in the PPDU including the corresponding SIG-B.

The aforementioned example relates to the user field of the first format (the format of the MU-MIMO scheme). An example of the user field of the second format (the format of the non-MU-MIMO scheme) is as follows.

A first bit (e.g., B0-B10) in the user field of the second format may include identification information of a user STA. In addition, a second bit (e.g., B11-B13) in the user field of the second format may include information related to the number of spatial streams applied to a corresponding RU. In addition, a third bit (e.g., B14) in the user field of the second format may include information related to whether a beamforming steering matrix is applied. A fourth bit (e.g., B15-B18) in the user field of the second format may include modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information. In addition, a fifth bit (e.g., B19) in the user field of the second format may include information related to whether dual carrier modulation (DCM) is applied. In addition, a sixth bit (i.e., B20) in the user field of the second format may include information related to a coding type (e.g., BCC or LDPC).

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation based on UL-MU. As illustrated, a transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may perform channel access through contending (e.g., a backoff operation), and may transmit a trigger frame 1030. That is, the transmitting STA may transmit a PPDU including the trigger frame 1030. Upon receiving the PPDU including the trigger frame, a trigger-based (TB) PPDU is transmitted after a delay corresponding to SIFS.

TB PPDUs 1041 and 1042 may be transmitted at the same time period, and may be transmitted from a plurality of STAs (e.g., user STAs) having AIDs indicated in the trigger frame 1030. An ACK frame 1050 for the TB PPDU may be implemented in various forms.

A specific feature of the trigger frame is described with reference to FIG. 11 to FIG. 13. Even if UL-MU communication is used, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) scheme or a MU MIMO scheme may be used, and the OFDMA and MU-MIMO schemes may be simultaneously used.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a trigger frame. The trigger frame of FIG. 11 allocates a resource for uplink multiple-user (MU) transmission, and may be transmitted, for example, from an AP. The trigger frame may be configured of a MAC frame, and may be included in a PPDU.

Each field shown in FIG. 11 may be partially omitted, and another field may be added. In addition, a length of each field may be changed to be different from that shown in the figure.

A frame control field 1110 of FIG. 11 may include information related to a MAC protocol version and extra additional control information. A duration field 1120 may include time information for NAV configuration or information related to an identifier (e.g., AID) of an STA.

In addition, an RA field 1130 may include address information of a receiving STA of a corresponding trigger frame, and may be optionally omitted. A TA field 1140 may include address information of an STA (e.g., AP) which transmits the corresponding trigger frame. A common information field 1150 includes common control information applied to the receiving STA which receives the corresponding trigger frame. For example, a field indicating a length of an L-SIG field of an uplink PPDU transmitted in response to the corresponding trigger frame or information for controlling content of an SIG-A field (i.e., HE-SIG-A field) of the uplink PPDU transmitted in response to the corresponding trigger frame may be included. In addition, as common control information, information related to a length of a CP of the uplink PPDU transmitted in response to the corresponding trigger frame or information related to a length of an LTF field may be included.

In addition, per user information fields 1160#1 to 1160#N corresponding to the number of receiving STAs which receive the trigger frame of FIG. 11 are preferably

included. The per user information field may also be called an “allocation field”. In addition, the trigger frame of FIG. 11 may include a padding field 1170 and a frame check sequence field 1180.

Each of the per user information fields 1160#1 to 1160#N shown in FIG. 11 may include a plurality of subfields.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a common information field of a trigger frame. A subfield of FIG. 12 may be partially omitted, and an extra subfield may be added. In addition, a length of each subfield illustrated may be changed.

A length field 1210 illustrated has the same value as a length field of an L-SIG field of an uplink PPDU transmitted in response to a corresponding trigger frame, and a length field of the L-SIG field of the uplink PPDU indicates a length of the uplink PPDU. As a result, the length field 1210 of the trigger frame may be used to indicate the length of the corresponding uplink PPDU.

In addition, a cascade identifier field 1220 indicates whether a cascade operation is performed. The cascade operation implies that downlink MU transmission and uplink MU transmission are performed together in the same TXOP. That is, it implies that downlink MU transmission is performed and thereafter uplink MU transmission is performed after a pre-set time (e.g., SIFS). During the cascade operation, only one transmitting device (e.g., AP) may perform downlink communication, and a plurality of transmitting devices (e.g., non-APs) may perform uplink communication.

A CS request field 1230 indicates whether a wireless medium state or an NAV or the like is necessarily considered in a situation where a receiving device which has received a corresponding trigger frame transmits a corresponding uplink PPDU.

An HE-SIG-A information field 1240 may include information for controlling content of an SIG-A field (i.e., HE-SIG-A field) of the uplink PPDU in response to the corresponding trigger frame.

A CP and LTF type field 1250 may include information related to a CP length and LTF length of the uplink PPDU transmitted in response to the corresponding trigger frame. A trigger type field 1260 may indicate a purpose of using the corresponding trigger frame, for example, typical triggering, triggering for beamforming, a request for block ACK/NACK, or the like.

It may be assumed that the trigger type field 1260 of the trigger frame in the present specification indicates a trigger frame of a basic type for typical triggering. For example, the trigger frame of the basic type may be referred to as a basic trigger frame.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a subfield included in a per user information field. A user information field 1300 of FIG. 13 may be understood as any one of the per user information fields 1160#1 to 1160#N mentioned above with reference to FIG. 11. A subfield included in the user information field 1300 of FIG. 13 may be partially omitted, and an extra subfield may be added. In addition, a length of each subfield illustrated may be changed.

A user identifier field 1310 of FIG. 13 indicates an identifier of an STA (i.e., receiving STA) corresponding to per user information. An example of the identifier may be the entirety or part of an association identifier (AID) value of the receiving STA.

In addition, an RU allocation field 1320 may be included. That is, when the receiving STA identified through the user identifier field 1310 transmits a TB PPDU in response to the trigger frame, the TB PPDU is transmitted through an RU indicated by the RU allocation field 1320. In this case, the RU indicated by the RU allocation field 1320 may be an RU shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7.

The subfield of FIG. 13 may include a coding type field 1330. The coding type field 1330 may indicate a coding type of the TB PPDU. For example, when BCC coding is applied to the TB PPDU, the coding type field 1330 may be set to ‘1’, and when LDPC coding is applied, the coding type field 1330 may be set to ‘0’.

In addition, the subfield of FIG. 13 may include an MCS field 1340. The MCS field 1340 may indicate an MCS scheme applied to the TB PPDU. For example, when BCC coding is applied to the TB PPDU, the coding type field 1330 may be set to ‘1’, and when LDPC coding is applied, the coding type field 1330 may be set to ‘0’.

Hereinafter, a UL OFDMA-based random access (UORA) scheme will be described.

FIG. 14 describes a technical feature of the UORA scheme.

A transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may allocate six RU resources through a trigger frame as shown in FIG. 14. Specifically, the AP may allocate a 1^(st) RU resource (AID 0, RU 1), a 2^(nd) RU resource (AID 0, RU 2), a 3^(rd) RU resource (AID 0, RU 3), a 4^(th) RU resource (AID 2045, RU 4), a 5^(th) RU resource (AID 2045, RU 5), and a 6^(th) RU resource (AID 3, RU 6). Information related to the AID 0, AID 3, or AID 2045 may be included, for example, in the user identifier field 1310 of FIG. 13. Information related to the RU 1 to RU 6 may be included, for example, in the RU allocation field 1320 of FIG. 13. AID=0 may imply a UORA resource for an associated STA, and AID=2045 may imply a UORA resource for an un-associated STA. Accordingly, the 1^(st) to 3^(rd) RU resources of FIG. 14 may be used as a UORA resource for the associated STA, the 4^(th) and 5^(th) RU resources of FIG. 14 may be used as a UORA resource for the un-associated STA, and the 6^(th) RU resource of FIG. 14 may be used as a typical resource for UL MU.

In the example of FIG. 14, an OFDMA random access backoff (OBO) of an STA1 is decreased to 0, and the STA1 randomly selects the 2^(nd) RU resource (AID 0, RU 2). In addition, since an OBO counter of an STA2/3 is greater than 0, an uplink resource is not allocated to the STA2/3. In addition, regarding an STA4 in FIG. 14, since an AID (e.g., AID=3) of the STA4 is included in a trigger frame, a resource of the RU 6 is allocated without backoff.

Specifically, since the STA1 of FIG. 14 is an associated STA, the total number of eligible RA RUs for the STA1 is 3 (RU 1, RU 2, and RU 3), and thus the STA1 decreases an OBO counter by 3 so that the OBO counter becomes 0. In addition, since the STA2 of FIG. 14 is an associated STA, the total number of eligible RA RUs for the STA2 is 3 (RU 1, RU 2, and RU 3), and thus the STA2 decreases the OBO counter by 3 but the OBO counter is greater than 0. In addition, since the STA3 of FIG. 14 is an un-associated STA, the total number of eligible RA RUs for the STA3 is 2 (RU 4, RU 5), and thus the STA3 decreases the OBO counter by 2 but the OBO counter is greater than 0.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a channel used/supported/defined within a 2.4 GHz band.

The 2.4 GHz band may be called in other terms such as a first band. In addition, the 2.4 GHz band may imply a frequency domain in which channels of which a center frequency is close to 2.4 GHz (e.g., channels of which a center frequency is located within 2.4 to 2.5 GHz) are used/supported/defined.

A plurality of 20 MHz channels may be included in the 2.4 GHz band. 20 MHz within the 2.4 GHz may have a plurality of channel indices (e.g., an index 1 to an index 14). For example, a center frequency of a 20 MHz channel to which a channel index 1 is allocated may be 2.412 GHz, a center frequency of a 20 MHz channel to which a channel index 2 is allocated may be 2.417 GHz, and a center frequency of a 20 MHz channel to which a channel index N is allocated may be (2.407+0.005*N) GHz. The channel index may be called in various terms such as a channel number or the like. Specific numerical values of the channel index and center frequency may be changed.

FIG. 15 exemplifies 4 channels within a 2.4 GHz band. Each of 1^(st) to 4^(th) frequency domains 1510 to 1540 shown herein may include one channel. For example, the 1^(st) frequency domain 1510 may include a channel 1 (a 20 MHz channel having an index 1). In this case, a center frequency of the channel 1 may be set to 2412 MHz. The 2^(nd) frequency domain 1520 may include a channel 6. In this case, a center frequency of the channel 6 may be set to 2437 MHz. The 3^(rd) frequency domain 1530 may include a channel 11. In this case, a center frequency of the channel 11 may be set to 2462 MHz. The 4^(th) frequency domain 1540 may include a channel 14. In this case, a center frequency of the channel 14 may be set to 2484 MHz.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a channel used/supported/defined within a 5 GHz band.

The 5 GHz band may be called in other terms such as a second band or the like. The 5 GHz band may imply a frequency domain in which channels of which a center frequency is greater than or equal to 5 GHz and less than 6 GHz (or less than 5.9 GHz) are used/supported/defined. Alternatively, the 5 GHz band may include a plurality of channels between 4.5 GHz and 5.5 GHz. A specific numerical value shown in FIG. 16 may be changed.

A plurality of channels within the 5 GHz band include an unlicensed national information infrastructure (UNII)-1, a UNII-2, a UNII-3, and an ISM. The INII-1 may be called UNII Low. The UNII-2 may include a frequency domain called UNII Mid and UNII-2Extended. The UNII-3 may be called UNII-Upper.

A plurality of channels may be configured within the 5 GHz band, and a bandwidth of each channel may be variously set to, for example, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or the like. For example, 5170 MHz to 5330 MHz frequency domains/ranges within the UNII-1 and UNII-2 may be divided into eight 20 MHz channels. The 5170 MHz to 5330 MHz frequency domains/ranges may be divided into four channels through a 40 MHz frequency domain. The 5170 MHz to 5330 MHz frequency domains/ranges may be divided into two channels through an 80 MHz frequency domain. Alternatively, the 5170 MHz to 5330 MHz frequency domains/ranges may be divided into one channel through a 160 MHz frequency domain.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a channel used/supported/defined within a 6 GHz band.

The 6 GHz band may be called in other terms such as a third band or the like. The 6 GHz band may imply a frequency domain in which channels of which a center frequency is greater than or equal to 5.9 GHz are used/supported/defined. A specific numerical value shown in FIG. 17 may be changed.

For example, the 20 MHz channel of FIG. 17 may be defined starting from 5.940 GHz. Specifically, among 20 MHz channels of FIG. 17, the leftmost channel may have an index 1 (or a channel index, a channel number, etc.), and 5.945 GHz may be assigned as a center frequency. That is, a center frequency of a channel of an index N may be determined as (5.940+0.005*N) GHz.

Accordingly, an index (or channel number) of the 2 MHz channel of FIG. 17 may be 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 65, 69, 73, 77, 81, 85, 89, 93, 97, 101, 105, 109, 113, 117, 121, 125, 129, 133, 137, 141, 145, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165, 169, 173, 177, 181, 185, 189, 193, 197, 201, 205, 209, 213, 217, 221, 225, 229, 233. In addition, according to the aforementioned (5.940+0.005*N) GHz rule, an index of the 40 MHz channel of FIG. 17 may be 3, 11, 19, 27, 35, 43, 51, 59, 67, 75, 83, 91, 99, 107, 115, 123, 131, 139, 147, 155, 163, 171, 179, 187, 195, 203, 211, 219, 227.

Although 20, 40, 80, and 160 MHz channels are illustrated in the example of FIG. 17, a 240 MHz channel or a 320 MHz channel may be additionally added.

Hereinafter, a PPDU transmitted/received in an STA of the present specification will be described.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a PPDU used in the present specification.

The PPDU 1800 depicted in FIG. 18 may be referred to as various terms such as an EHT PPDU, a TX PPDU, an RX PPDU, a first type or N-th type PPDU, or the like. In addition, the EHT PPDU may be used in an EHT system and/or a new WLAN system enhanced from the EHT system.

The subfields 1801 to 1810 depicted in FIG. 18 may be referred to as various terms. For example, a SIG A field 1805 may be referred to an EHT-SIG-A field, a SIG B field 1806 may be referred to an EHT-SIG-B, a STF field 1807 may be referred to an EHT-STF field, and an LTF field 1808 may be referred to an EHT-LTF.

The subcarrier spacing of the L-LTF, L-STF, L-SIG, and RL-SIG fields 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 of FIG. 18 can be set to 312.5 kHz, and the subcarrier spacing of the STF, LTF, and Data fields 1807, 1808, and 1809 of FIG. 18 can be set to 78.125 kHz. That is, the subcarrier index of the L-LTF, L-STF, L-SIG, and RL-SIG fields 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 can be expressed in unit of 312.5 kHz, and the subcarrier index of the STF, LTF, and Data fields 1807, 1808, and 1809 can be expressed in unit of 78.125 kHz.

The SIG A and/or SIG B fields of FIG. 18 may include additional fields (e.g., a SIG C field or one control symbol, etc.). The subcarrier spacing of all or part of the SIG A and SIG B fields may be set to 312.5 kHz, and the subcarrier spacing of all or part of newly-defined SIG field(s) may be set to 312.5 kHz. Meanwhile, the subcarrier spacing for a part of the newly-defined SIG field(s) may be set to a pre-defined value (e.g., 312.5 kHz or 78.125 kHz).

In the PPDU of FIG. 18, the L-LTF and the L-STF may be the same as conventional L-LTF and L-STF fields.

The L-SIG field of FIG. 18 may include, for example, bit information of 24 bits. For example, the 24-bit information may include a rate field of 4 bits, a reserved bit of 1 bit, a length field of 12 bits, a parity bit of 1 bit, and a tail bit of 6 bits. For example, the length field of 12 bits may include information related to the number of octets of a corresponding Physical Service Data Unit (PSDU). For example, the length field of 12 bits may be determined based on a type of the PPDU. For example, when the PPDU is a non-HT, HT, VHT PPDU or an EHT PPDU, a value of the length field may be determined as a multiple of 3. For example, when the PPDU is an HE PPDU, the value of the length field may be determined as ‘a multiple of 3+1’ or ‘a multiple of 3+2’. In other words, for the non-HT, HT, VHT PPDI or the EHT PPDU, the value of the length field may be determined as a multiple of 3, and for the HE PPDU, the value of the length field may be determined as ‘a multiple of 3+1’ or ‘a multiple of 3+2’.

For example, the transmitting STA may apply BCC encoding based on a 1/2 coding rate to the 24-bit information of the L-SIG field. Thereafter, the transmitting STA may obtain a BCC coding bit of 48 bits. BPSK modulation may be applied to the 48-bit coding bit, thereby generating 48 BPSK symbols. The transmitting STA may map the 48 BPSK symbols to positions except for a pilot subcarrier {subcarrier index −21, −7, +7, +21} and a DC subcarrier {subcarrier index 0}. As a result, the 48 BPSK symbols may be mapped to subcarrier indices −26 to −22, −20 to −8, −6 to −1, +1 to +6, +8 to +20, and +22 to +26. The transmitting STA may additionally map a signal of {−1, −1, −1, 1} to a subcarrier index {−28, −27, +27, +28}. The aforementioned signal may be used for channel estimation on a frequency domain corresponding to {−28, −27, +27, +28}.

The transmitting STA may generate an RL-SIG which is identical to the L-SIG. BPSK modulation may be applied to the RL-SIG. The receiving STA may figure out that the RX PPDU is the HE PPDU or the EHT PPDU, based on the presence of the RL-SIG.

After RL-SIG in FIG. 18, for example, EHT-SIG-A or one control symbol may be inserted. A symbol located after the RL-SIG (i.e., EHT-SIG-A or one control symbol in the present specification) may be called by various names such as a Universal SIG (U-SIG) field.

A symbol consecutive to the RL-SIG (for example, U-SIG) may include N bits information, and may include information for identifying the type of the EHT PPDU. For example, the U-SIG may be configured based on two symbols (for example, two consecutive OFDM symbols). Each symbol (for example, OFDM symbol) for U-SIG may have a duration of 4 us. Each symbol of the U-SIG may be used to transmit 26-bits information. For example, each symbol of the U-SIG may be transmitted/received based on 52 data tones and 4 pilot tones.

For example, A-bit information (for example, 52 un-coded bits) may be transmitted through the U-SIG (or U-SIG field). The first X-bit information of the total A-bit information (for example, 26 un-coded bits) may be transmitted through the first symbol of the U-SIG, and the remaining Y-bit information of the total A-bit information (for example, 26 un-coded bits) may be transmitted through the second symbol of the U-SIG. For example, the transmitting STA may obtain 26 un-coded bits included in each U-SIG symbol. The transmitting STA may generate a 52-coded bit by performing convolutional encoding based on a rate of R=1/2, and may perform interleaving on the 52-coded bit. The transmitting STA may generate 52 BPSK symbols allocated to each U-SIG symbol by performing BPSK modulation on the interleaved 52-coded bits. One U-SIG symbol may be transmitted based on 56 tones (subcarriers) from subcarrier index −28 to subcarrier index +28 except for DC index 0. The 52 BPSK symbols generated by the transmitting STA may be transmitted based on the remaining tones (subcarriers) excluding pilot tones −21, −7, +7, and +21 tones.

For example, A-bit information (for example, 52 un-coded bits) transmitted by U-SIG may include a CRC field (for example, a 4-bit long field) and a tail field (for example, a 6-bit long field). The CRC field and the tail field may be transmitted through the second symbol of the U-SIG. The CRC field may be generated based on the 26 bits allocated to the first symbol of the U-SIG, and the remaining 16 bits in the second symbol except for the CRC/tail field, and may be generated based on the conventional CRC calculation algorithm. Also, the tail field may be used to terminate the trellis of the convolutional decoder, and may be set to, for example, “000000”.

A bit information (for example, 52 un-coded bits) transmitted by U-SIG (or U-SIG field) may be divided into version-independent bits and version-dependent bits. For example, the size of version-independent bits may be fixed or variable. For example, the version-independent bits may be allocated only to the first symbol of the U-SIG, or the version-independent bits may be allocated to both the first symbol and the second symbol of the U-SIG. For example, the version-independent bits and the version-dependent bits may be referred to by various names such as a first bit and a second bit.

For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a 3-bit PHY version identifier. For example, the 3-bit PHY version identifier may include information related to the PHY version of the transmission/reception PPDU. For example, the first value of the 3-bit PHY version identifier may indicate that the transmission/reception PPDU is an EHT PPDU. In other words, when transmitting the EHT PPDU, the transmitting STA may set the 3-bit PHY version identifier as the first value. In other words, the receiving STA may determine that the receiving PPDU is an EHT PPDU based on the PHY version identifier having the first value.

For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a 1-bit UL/DL flag field. A first value of the 1-bit UL/DL flag field relates to UL communication, and a second value of the UL/DL flag field relates to DL communication.

For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include information about the length of the TXOP and information about the BSS color ID.

For example, when EHT PPDU is divided into various types (for example, EHT PPDU supporting SU, EHT PPDU supporting MU, EHT PPDU related to Trigger Frame, EHT PPDU related to Extended Range transmission, etc.), information on the type of the EHT PPDU may be included in version-independent bits or version-dependent bits of the U-SIG.

For example, the U-SIG field includes information on 1) a bandwidth field including information about bandwidth, 2) a field containing information about the MCS technique applied to SIG-B, 3) an indication field including information related to whether a dual subcarrier modulation technique is applied to SIG-B, 4) a field including information about the number of symbols used for SIG-B, 5) a field including information on whether SIG-B is generated over the entire band, 6) a field including information about the type of LTF/STF, and 7) a field indicating LTF length and CP length.

The SIG-B of FIG. 18 may include the technical features of the HE-SIG-B shown in the examples of FIGS. 8 and 9.

An STF of FIG. 18 may be used to improve automatic gain control estimation in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) environment or an OFDMA environment. An LTF of FIG. 18 may be used to estimate a channel in the MIMO environment or the OFDMA environment.

The EHT-STF of FIG. 18 may be set in various types. For example, a first type of STF (e.g., 1x STF) may be generated based on a first type STF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 16 subcarriers. An STF signal generated based on the first type STF sequence may have a period of 0.8 μs, and a periodicity signal of 0.8 μs may be repeated 5 times to become a first type STF having a length of 4 μs. For example, a second type of STF (e.g., 2x STF) may be generated based on a second type STF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 8 subcarriers. An STF signal generated based on the second type STF sequence may have a period of 1.6 μs, and a periodicity signal of 1.6 μs may be repeated 5 times to become a second type STF having a length of 8 μs. For example, a third type of STF (e.g., 4x STF) may be generated based on a third type STF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 4 subcarriers. An STF signal generated based on the third type STF sequence may have a period of 3.2 μs, and a periodicity signal of 3.2 μs may be repeated 5 times to become a second type STF having a length of 16 μs. Only some of the first to third type EHT-STF sequences may be used. In addition, the EHT-LTF field may also have first, second, and third types (i.e., 1x, 2x, 4x LTF). For example, the first/second/third type LTF field may be generated based on an LTF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 4/2/1 subcarriers. The first/second/third type LTF may have a time length of 3.2/6.4/12.8 μs. In addition, Guard Intervals (GIs) with various lengths (e.g., 0.8/1/6/3.2 μs) may be applied to the first/second/third type LTF.

Information related to the type of STF and/or LTF (including information related to GI applied to the LTF) may be included in the SIG A field and/or the SIG B field of FIG. 18.

The PPDU of FIG. 18 may support various bandwidths. For example, the PPDU of FIG. 18 may have a bandwidth of 20/40/80/160/240/320 MHz. For example, at least one field (e.g., STF, LTF, data) of FIG. 18 may be configured based on RUs illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, and the like. For example, when there is one receiving STA of the PPDU of FIG. 18, all fields of the PPDU of FIG. 18 may occupy the entire bandwidth. For example, when there are multiple receiving STAs of the PPDU of FIG. 18 (i.e., when MU PPDU is used), some fields (e.g., STF, LTF, data) of FIG. 18 may be configured based on the RUs shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. For example, the STF, LTF, and data fields for the first receiving STA of the PPDU may be transmitted/received through a first RU, and the STF, LTF, and data fields for the second receiving STA of the PPDU may be transmitted/received through a second RU. In this case, the locations/positions of the first and second RUs may be determined based on FIGS. 5 to 7, and the like.

The PPDU of FIG. 18 may be determined (or identified) as an EHT PPDU based on the following method.

A receiving STA may determine a type of an RX PPDU as the EHT PPDU, based on the following aspect. For example, the RX PPDU may be determined as the EHT PPDU: 1) when a first symbol after an L-LTF signal of the RX PPDU is a BPSK symbol; 2) when RL-SIG in which the L-SIG of the RX PPDU is repeated is detected; and 3) when a result of applying “module 3” to a value of a length field of the L-SIG of the RX PPDU is detected as “0”. When the RX PPDU is determined as the EHT PPDU, the receiving STA may detect a type of the EHT PPDU (e.g., an SU/MU/Trigger-based/Extended Range type), based on bit information included in a symbol after the RL-SIG of FIG. 18. In other words, the receiving STA may determine the RX PPDU as the EHT PPDU, based on: 1) a first symbol after an L-LTF signal, which is a BPSK symbol; 2) RL-SIG contiguous to the L-SIG field and identical to L-SIG; 3) L-SIG including a length field in which a result of applying “modulo 3” is set to “0”; and 4) a 3-bit PHY version identifier of the aforementioned U-SIG (e.g., a PHY version identifier having a first value).

For example, the receiving STA may determine the type of the RX PPDU as the EHT PPDU, based on the following aspect. For example, the RX PPDU may be determined as the HE PPDU: 1) when a first symbol after an L-LTF signal is a BPSK symbol; 2) when RL-SIG in which the L-SIG is repeated is detected; and 3) when a result of applying “module 3” to a value of a length field of the L-SIG is detected as “1” or “2”.

For example, the receiving STA may determine the type of the RX PPDU as a non-HT, HT, and VHT PPDU, based on the following aspect. For example, the RX PPDU may be determined as the non-HT, HT, and VHT PPDU: 1) when a first symbol after an L-LTF signal is a BPSK symbol; and 2) when RL-SIG in which L-SIG is repeated is not detected. In addition, even if the receiving STA detects that the RL-SIG is repeated, when a result of applying “modulo 3” to the length value of the L-SIG is detected as “0”, the RX PPDU may be determined as the non-HT, HT, and VHT PPDU.

In the following example, a signal represented as a (TX/RX/UL/DL) signal, a (TX/RX/UL/DL) frame, a (TX/RX/UL/DL) packet, a (TX/RX/UL/DL) data unit, (TX/RX/UL/DL) data, or the like may be a signal transmitted/received based on the PPDU of FIG. 18. The PPDU of FIG. 18 may be used to transmit/receive frames of various types. For example, the PPDU of FIG. 18 may be used for a control frame. An example of the control frame may include a request to send (RTS), a clear to send (CTS), a power save-poll (PS-poll), BlockACKReq, BlockAck, a null data packet (NDP) announcement, and a trigger frame. For example, the PPDU of FIG. 18 may be used for a management frame. An example of the management frame may include a beacon frame, a (re-)association request frame, a (re-)association response frame, a probe request frame, and a probe response frame. For example, the PPDU of FIG. 18 may be used for a data frame. For example, the PPDU of FIG. 18 may be used to simultaneously transmit at least two or more of the control frame, the management frame, and the data frame.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a modified transmission device and/or receiving device of the present specification.

Each device/STA of the sub-figure (a)/(b) of FIG. 1 may be modified as shown in FIG. 19. A transceiver 630 of FIG. 19 may be identical to the transceivers 113 and 123 of FIG. 1. The transceiver 630 of FIG. 19 may include a receiver and a transmitter.

A processor 610 of FIG. 19 may be identical to the processors 111 and 121 of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the processor 610 of FIG. 19 may be identical to the processing chips 114 and 124 of FIG. 1.

A memory 620 of FIG. 19 may be identical to the memories 112 and 122 of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the memory 620 of FIG. 19 may be a separate external memory different from the memories 112 and 122 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 19, a power management module 611 manages power for the processor 610 and/or the transceiver 630. A battery 612 supplies power to the power management module 611. A display 613 outputs a result processed by the processor 610. A keypad 614 receives inputs to be used by the processor 610. The keypad 614 may be displayed on the display 613. A SIM card 615 may be an integrated circuit which is used to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices such as mobile phones and computers.

Referring to FIG. 19, a speaker 640 may output a result related to a sound processed by the processor 610. A microphone 641 may receive an input related to a sound to be used by the processor 610.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a transmitting STA that generates a PPDU based on a Single-MPDU.

Referring to FIG. 20, a layer architecture of a transmitting STA (i.e., an IEEE 802.11 system) may include a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer (or sublayer) and a Physical (PHY) layer (or sublayer).

The transmitting STA (for example, the first STA 110 of FIG. 1) may generate/configure an MPDU through a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The PHY layer may provide an interface to the MAC layer through TXVECTOR, RXVECTOR, and PHYCONFIG_VECTOR. TXVECTOR may support transmission parameters for each PPDU to the PHY layer. TXVECTOR may be delivered from the MAC layer to the PHY layer through the PHY-TXSTART.request primitive. By using the PHYCONFIG_VECTOR by the transmitting STA, the MAC layer may configure the operation of the PHY layer regardless of frame transmission or reception.

An operation in each sub-layer (or layer) will be briefly described as follows.

The MAC layer may generate one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) by attaching a MAC header and a frame check sequence (FCS) to a MAC service data unit (MSDU) or a fragment of an MSDU received from a higher layer (for example, LLC). The generated MPDU may be delivered to the PHY layer.

The PHY layer may generate a physical protocol data unit (PPDU) by adding an additional field including information required by the physical layer of a transmitting/receiving STA to the physical service data unit (PSDU) received from the MAC layer. The generated PPDU may be transmitted through a wireless medium.

Since the PSDU is received by the PHY layer from the MAC and the MPDU is transmitted by the MAC layer to the PHY layer, the PSDU may be substantially the same as the MPDU.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a receiving STA that receives a PPDU generated based on a Single-MPDU.

Referring to FIG. 21, a receiving STA (for example, the second STA 120 of FIG. 1) may receive a PPDU through a PHY layer. The receiving STA may have the same structure of the transmitting STA of FIG. 19, and may perform the reverse operation of generating the PPDU by the transmitting STA. That is, the receiving STA may obtain the MPDU through the received PPDU.

Specifically, by using the reception RXVECTOR, the PHY layer may inform the MAC layer parameters for the received PPDU. RXVECTOR may be delivered from the PHY layer to the MAC layer through the PHY-RXSTART.indication primitive. The receiving STA may obtain an MPDU included in the received PPDU. The receiving STA may check whether there is an error in the MPDU by using the CRC of the MPDU.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a transmitting STA that generates a PPDU based on an A-MPDU.

Referring to FIG. 22, a transmitting STA may include the same structure of a transmitting STA of FIG. 19. When an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) scheme is used, a plurality of MPDUs may be aggregated into a single A-MPDU. The MPDU aggregation operation may be performed in the MAC layer. In the A-MPDU, various types of MPDUs (for example, QoS data, Acknowledge (ACK), block ACK (BlockAck), etc.) may be merged. The PHY layer may receive an A-MPDU as a single PSDU from a MAC layer. That is, the PSDU may consist of a plurality of MPDUs. Accordingly, the A-MPDU may be transmitted through the wireless medium within a single PPDU. The transmitting STA may transmit a PPDU generated based on the A-MPDU to the receiving STA.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a receiving STA that receives a PPDU generated based on an A-MPDU.

Referring to FIG. 23, a receiving STA (for example, the second STA 120 of FIG. 1) may receive a PPDU through a PHY layer. The receiving STA may include the same structure of a transmitting STA of FIG. 19. Upon receiving the PPDU, the receiving STA may obtain an A-MPDU. The receiving STA may determine whether each MPDU has an error by using the CRC of each MPDU constituting the A-MPDU.

Hereinafter, the HARQ technique applied to an example of the present specification will be described.

The HARQ technique may be a technique combining a forward error correction (FEC) scheme and an automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme. According to the HARQ method, the performance can be improved by checking whether the data received by the PHY layer includes an error that cannot be decoded, and requesting retransmission when an error occurs.

The receiver supporting HARQ may basically attempt error correction on received data and determine whether to retransmit using an error detection code. The error detection code may be various codes. For example, in the case of using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), when an error in received data is detected through a CRC detection process, the receiver may transmit a non-acknowledgement or negative-acknowledgement (NACK) signal to the transmitter. Upon receiving the NACK signal, the transmitter may transmit appropriate retransmission data according to the HARQ mode. The receiver receiving the retransmission data may improve reception performance by combining and decoding the previous data and the retransmitted data.

The mode of HARQ can be divided into chase combining and incremental redundancy (IR). Chase combining is a method of obtaining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain by combining data with detected errors with retransmitted data without discarding the data. IR is a method in which additional redundant information is incrementally attached to retransmitted data in order to obtain a coding gain.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of chase combining. Chase combining is a method in which the same coded bit as in the initial transmission is retransmitted.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of an incremental redundancy (IR) method. In the incremental redundancy (IR) method, the coded bits that are initially transmitted and subsequently retransmitted may be different as follows. Accordingly, when the IR method is used, the STA performing retransmission generally delivers the IR version (or packet version/retransmission version) to the receiving STA. In the following drawings, the transmitting STA is an example of performing retransmission in the order of IR version 1→IR Version 2→IR Version 3→IR Version 1. The receiving STA may combine and decode the received packet/signal.

HARQ may have an effect of expanding coverage in a low SNR environment (for example, an environment in which a transmitter and a receiver are far apart). HARQ may have an effect of increasing throughput in a high SNR environment.

According to the basic procedure of HARQ, a transmitter can transmit packets and a receiver can receive packets. The receiver may check whether received packets have errors. The receiver may feedback to the transmitter a request to retransmit erroneous packets among the received packets.

For example, the receiver may transmit a request for retransmission of erroneous packets among packets received through the ACK/NACK frame or the Block ACK frame. The transmitter may receive feedback from the receiver and may retransmit erroneous packets based on the feedback. For another example, the transmitter may transmit erroneous packets and new packets together. Packets that do not generate errors may not be retransmitted.

The receiver may perform decoding by combining previously received erroneous packets and retransmitted packets. A method of combining packets includes a method of combining in a modulation symbol unit (for example, BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, 256 QAM, 1024 QAM, etc.) and a method of combining in a log likelihood ratio (LLR) value unit after a de-mapper. Hereinafter, a method of combining in LLR value units may be assumed. If decoding is performed by combining the previously received packet and the retransmitted packet, but an error occurs, the above procedure can be repeated as many as the predetermined maximum number of retransmissions.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the operation of HARQ.

Referring to FIG. 26, a transmitting STA (for example, the first STA 110) may transmit a PPDU to a receiving STA (for example, the second STA 120). The PPDU may include data. The receiving STA may decode the received PPDU. After decoding the PPDU, the receiving STA may check whether there is an error in the PPDU by using a Frame Check Sequence (FCS) (or Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)).

When there is no error in the PPDU, the receiving STA may transmit an ACK frame to the transmitting STA after a specified time (for example, SIFS). In other words, the receiving STA may transmit an ACK frame to the transmitting STA after a specified time based on the absence of an error in the PPDU.

If there is an error in the PPDU, the receiving STA may transmit a NACK frame to the transmitting STA after a specified time (for example, SIFS). In other words, the receiving STA may transmit a NACK frame to the transmitting STA after a specified time based on an error in the PPDU. When the receiving STA transmits a NACK frame to the transmitting STA, the receiving STA may store an error packet (for example, a PPDU or a data field) in the PHY layer. In other words, the receiving STA may store the packet with an error in the PHY layer based on the NACK frame.

In addition, the transmitting STA may transmit (or retransmit) a packet (or PPDU) reported as an error after a specified time (for example, SIFS, PIFS, or DIFS). In addition, the transmitting STA may additionally transmit a new packet together with the packet reported as an error.

Thereafter, the receiving STA may receive the packet which is reported as including an error. The receiving STA may perform decoding by combining the stored packet with the received packet. The receiving STA may determine whether there is an error in the received packet through decoding. In this case, the receiving STA may determine whether there is an error in the received packet before combining the stored packet with the received packet. The receiving STA may transmit the received packet to the MAC layer when there is no error in the received packet. If there is an error in the received packet, the receiving STA may transmit a NACK frame again to the transmitting STA and repeat the above-described procedure. In other words, the receiving STA may transmit the received packet to the MAC layer based on that the received packet has no error. The receiving STA may transmit a NACK frame again to the transmitting STA based on an error in the received packet, and repeat the above-described procedure.

When retransmission is performed based on contention rather than a specified time such as SIFS or PIFS, there is a problem in that Hardware (HW) complexity and cost increase in the receiving STA and the transmitting STA. Therefore, hereinafter, a criterion for determining whether there is an error or not in a packet or a unit for retransmission can be defined as a HARQ unit. A HARQ index number (or HARQ index) may be defined in order to distinguish HARQ units and the number of HARQ units. For example, the HARQ unit may include a codeword or an MPDU.

According to an embodiment, the HARQ unit may be referred to by various terms. For example, the HARQ unit may be referred to as a data block, unit, or HARQ transmission unit. For example, the HARQ index number may also be referred to by various terms. For example, the HARQ index number may be referred to as an index or HARQ index.

That is, the transmitting STA and the receiving STA can transmit and receive as many as the maximum number of HARQ index numbers specified through one PPDU. In addition, one HARQ unit may have one HARQ index number. In other words, one HARQ unit may be set to one HARQ index number.

According to an embodiment, the transmitting STA may perform the HARQ operation with a buffer corresponding to the same HARQ index number. That is, HARQ units corresponding to the same HARQ index number may be stored in the same buffer. In addition, the receiving STA may perform HARQ unit combination by using the same HARQ index numbers. In other words, the receiving STA may perform HARQ unit combination based on the same HARQ index number. In addition, the index and number of HARQ index number may be defined in the EHT-SIG field. In other words, the EHT-SIG field may include information about the index and number of HARQ index numbers. According to an embodiment, information on the index and number of HARQ index numbers may be inserted at the beginning of each HARQ burst by using a specific sequence.

Hereinafter, various examples in which the HARQ index number (or HARQ index) is configured/set in the EHT PPDU (i.e., the PPDU according to the EHT standard (i.e. 802.11be)) may be described.

FIG. 27 shows an example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

Referring to FIG. 27, the PPDU (i.e., EHT PPDU 2700) according to FIG. 27 may be an example in which ‘n’ HARQ index numbers (or ‘n’ HARQ units) are used in one PPDU. According to an embodiment, the EHT PPDU 2700 may include a preamble field 2710, an EHT-SIG field 2720, and a plurality of HARQ units. A plurality of HARQ units may be set to different HARQ index numbers, respectively. The plurality of HARQ units may include HARQ index #1 (2730), HARQ index #2 (2740) to HARQ index #n (2750). Here, the definition of ‘n’ and information about each HARQ index number may be transmitted through the EHT SIG field 2720. In other words, the definition of ‘n’ and information about each HARQ index number may be included in the EHT SIG field 2720.

FIG. 28 shows another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPD.

Referring to FIG. 28, the PPDU (i.e., EHT PPDU 2800) according to FIG. 28 may be an example in which one HARQ index number (or HARQ index) is used in one PPDU. According to an embodiment, the EHT PPDU 2800 may include a preamble field 2810, an EHT-SIG field 2820, and a plurality of HARQ units. A plurality of HARQ units may all be set to the same HARQ index number. The plurality of HARQ units may include HARQ unit #1 (2830), HARQ unit #2 (2840) to HARQ unit #n (2850). HARQ unit #1 (2830), HARQ unit #2 (2840) to HARQ unit #n (2850) may all be configured/set as HARQ index #1.

When a plurality of HARQ units included in one PPDU are all set to the same HARQ index number, the number of HARQ units constituting one PPDU may not be limited. Accordingly, the transmitting STA may transmit the PPDU without limiting the length of the transmitted PPDU. In addition, the length of the HARQ unit may be set to be the same. For example, the total HARQ index number may be set to ‘4’. In addition, the buffer size corresponding to each HARQ index number may be fixed. As an example, the buffer size may be set to 1 Mbyte. Accordingly, the maximum length of the PPDU that the transmitting STA can transmit (i.e., the PPDU length) may be set to 4× buffer size per HARQ index number. For example, when the buffer size is 1 Mbyte, the maximum transmittable PPDU length may be set to 4 Mbyte. Accordingly, the transmitting STA may transmit only a PPDU having a length of 4× buffer size per HARQ index number. That is, since the maximum HARQ index number is a fixed value, the transmitting STA may have a problem of variably changing the length of the HARQ unit according to the length of the PPDU.

According to some embodiments below, there is an effect that it is possible to operate with a small number of HARQ index numbers, and buffer management is performed more easily.

FIGS. 29 and 30 show another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

Referring to FIGS. 29 and 30, FIG. 29 shows an EHT PPDU 1 2900, and FIG. 30 shows an EHT PPDU 2 3000. According to an embodiment, in the EHT PPDU 1 2900, n HARQ units may be mapped to HARQ index 1. In the EHT PPDU 2 3000, m HARQ units may be mapped to HARQ index 2. In other words, a different number of HARQ units may be allocated to each PPDU.

FIG. 31 shows another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

Referring to FIG. 31, in a plurality of HARQ units included in the EHT PPDU 3100, a plurality of HARQ index numbers may be set. According to an embodiment, the EHT PPDU 3100 may include ‘n’ HARQ units. Here, ‘n’ is a natural number and may indicate the number of HARQ units included in the EHT PPDU 3100. For the HARQ unit, one of a plurality of HARQ indices may be set. That is, one or more HARQ units may be grouped, and one HARQ index number may be set in the group. Accordingly, at least one HARQ index number may be transmitted through one PPDU (for example, EHT PPDU 3100). For example, HARQ unit #a 3111 and HARQ unit #b 3112 may be set as HARQ index #1. HARQ unit #c 3121, HARQ unit #d 3122, and HARQ unit #e 3123 may be set as HARQ index #2. In other words, HARQ unit #a 3111 and HARQ unit #b 3112 may be set as the first group, and the first group may be set as HARQ index #1. In addition, HARQ unit #c 3121, HARQ unit #d 3122, and HARQ unit #e 3123 may be set as the second group, and the second group may be set as HARQ index #2. Subsequent HARQ units may also be set to a plurality of groups, and an HARQ index number may be set to the plurality of groups. FIG. 32 shows another example in which the HARQ index number is set in the EHT PPDU.

Referring to FIG. 32, when the EHT PPDU 3200 is configured, the maximum HARQ index number may be set to ‘4’. In addition, in the EHT PPDU 3200, one HARQ unit may be allocated as one HARQ index number. According to an embodiment, the EHT PPDU 3200 may include a HARQ unit #a 3211, a HARQ unit #b 3212, a HARQ unit #c 3213, and a HARQ unit #d 3214. HARQ unit #a 3211 may be set as HARQ index #1. HARQ unit #b 3212 may be set as HARQ index #2. HARQ unit #c 3213 may be set as HARQ index #3. HARQ unit #d 3214 may be set to HARQ index #4.

FIG. 33 shows an example of a retransmitted EHT PPDU. Referring to FIG. 33, the EHT PPDU 3300 may be a retransmitted PPDU when there is an error in the EHT PPDU 3200 of FIG. 32. According to an embodiment, errors may occur in HARQ index #1 and HARQ index #3 of the EHT PPDU 3200 of FIG. 32. Accordingly, the transmitting STA may retransmit the HARQ units set to HARQ index #1 and HARQ index #3.

For example, the transmitting STA may transmit the EHT PPDU 3300 as a PPDU to be retransmitted. The EHT PPDU 3300 may include a HARQ unit #a 3311, a HARQ unit #e 3312, a HARQ unit #c 3313, and a HARQ unit #f 3314. HARQ unit #a 3311 may be set as HARQ index #1. HARQ unit #e 3312 may be set as HARQ index #2. HARQ unit #c 3313 may be set as HARQ index #3. HARQ unit #f 3314 may be set to HARQ index #4. That is, through the EHT PPDU 3300, HARQ unit #a 3311 and HARQ unit #c 3313 are retransmitted, and HARQ unit #e 3312 and HARQ unit #f 3314 can be additionally transmitted.

In other words, the transmitting STA may receive feedback for the EHT PPDU 3200 of FIG. 32. For example, the transmitting STA may receive ACK frames for HARQ indexes #2 and #4. As another example, the transmitting STA may receive NACK frames for HARQ indexes #1 and #3. Thereafter, the transmitting STA may allocate new HARQ units to HARQ indexes #2 and #4. As an example, the transmitting STA allocates HARQ unit #a 3311 and HARQ unit #c 3313 to HARQ index #1 and #3 to EHT PPDU 3300, HARQ unit #a 3311 and HARQ unit #c 3313 may be retransmitted. In addition, the transmitting STA may additionally allocate the HARQ unit #e 3312 and the HARQ unit #f 3314 to the EHT PPDU 3300 to HARQ index #2 and #4.

FIG. 34 shows an example of a signal transmitted and received by a transmitting STA and a receiving STA.

Referring to FIG. 34, FIG. 34 may show an example in which HARQ units constituting one PPDU are mapped to the same HARQ index number. The transmitting STA 3401 may transmit the first PPDU 3410 to the receiving STA 3402. For example, the first PPDU 3410 may include HARQ unit #a, HARQ unit #b, HARQ unit #c, and HARQ unit #d. HARQ unit #a, HARQ unit #b, HARQ unit #c, and HARQ unit #d may all be set to HARQ index #1.

The receiving STA 3402 may transmit an ACK and/or NACK signal to the transmitting STA 3401 for the first PPDU 3410. In other words, the transmitting STA 3401 may receive an ACK and/or a NACK signal for the first PPDU 3410 from the receiving STA 3402. The ACK and/or NACK signal may be transmitted after a first time (for example, SIFS) after the first PPDU 3410 is received by the receiving STA.

For example, the receiving STA 3402 may receive HARQ unit #b and HARQ unit #d without errors. Also, the receiving STA 3402 may detect errors for HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3402 may transmit an ACK signal to the transmitting STA 3401 for HARQ unit #b and HARQ unit #d. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3402 may transmit a NACK signal to the transmitting STA 3401 for HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3402 may transmit both an ACK signal and a NACK signal.

The transmitting STA 3401 may transmit a second PPDU 3420 to the receiving STA 3402 in response to the ACK and/or NACK signal. In other words, the receiving STA 3401 may receive the second PPDU 3420 from the receiving STA 3402.

For example, the second PPDU 3420 may include HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c. That is, the transmitting STA 3401 may retransmit HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c, which are HARQ units in which an error has occurred in the receiving STA 3402. HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c may be set to HARQ index #1.

For example, the second PPDU 3420 may be transmitted after a second time (for example, SIFS, PIFS, or contention) after the ACK or NACK signal is received by the transmitting STA. For example, the second PPDU 3420 may be transmitted after SIFS after the ACK or NACK signal is received by the transmitting STA. In this case, the first PPDU 3410 and the second PPDU 3420 may be transmitted/received within one Transmit Opportunity (TXOP). In other words, the first PPDU 3410 and the second PPDU 3420 may be transmitted/received within the same Transmit Opportunity (TXOP).

Thereafter, the receiving STA 3402 may transmit an ACK signal to the transmitting STA 3401. The ACK signal may include information indicating that HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c have been properly transmitted.

That is, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 34, the transmitting STA 3401 may immediately retransmit HARQ index #1 (HARQ unit #a, c) after receiving the ACK and/or NACK signal (or frame).

FIG. 35 shows another example of a signal transmitted and received by a transmitting STA and a receiving STA.

Referring to FIG. 35, FIG. 35 may show an example in which HARQ units constituting one PPDU are mapped to the same HARQ index number. Unlike FIG. 34, the transmitting STA may transmit a new HARQ unit without immediately retransmitting the errored HARQ unit. Specifically, the transmitting STA 3501 may transmit the first PPDU 3510 to the receiving STA 3502. For example, the first PPDU 3510 may include HARQ unit #a, HARQ unit #b, HARQ unit #c, and HARQ unit #d. HARQ unit #a, HARQ unit #b, HARQ unit #c, and HARQ unit #d may all be set to HARQ index #1.

The receiving STA 3502 may transmit a first ACK and/or a first NACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501 for the first PPDU 3510. In other words, the transmitting STA 3501 may receive a first ACK and/or a first NACK signal for the first PPDU 3510 from the receiving STA 3502. The first ACK and/or the first NACK signal may be transmitted after a first time (for example, SIFS) after the first PPDU 3510 is received by the receiving STA. For example, the receiving STA 3502 may receive HARQ unit #b and HARQ unit #d without errors. Also, the receiving STA 3502 may detect errors for HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit a first ACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501 for HARQ unit #b and HARQ unit #d. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit a first NACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501 for HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit both the first ACK signal and the first NACK signal.

After receiving the first ACK and/or the first NACK signal, the transmitting STA 3501 may transmit a second PPDU 3520 to the receiving STA 3502. In other words, the receiving STA 3501 may receive the second PPDU 3520 from the receiving STA 3502. For example, the second PPDU 3520 may include HARQ unit #e, HARQ unit #f, and HARQ unit #g. HARQ unit #e, HARQ unit #f, and HARQ unit #g may be set to HARQ index #2. That is, the transmitting STA 3501 may transmit the HARQ unit set to a different HARQ index number from the HARQ index number of the previously transmitted HARQ unit without retransmitting the HARQ unit in error.

The receiving STA 3502 may transmit a second ACK and/or a second NACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501 for the second PPDU 3520. In other words, the transmitting STA 3501 may receive a second ACK and/or a second NACK signal for the second PPDU 3520 from the receiving STA 3502. The second ACK and/or the second NACK signal may be transmitted after a second time (for example, SIFS, PIFS, or contention) after the second PPDU 3520 is received by the receiving STA.

For example, the receiving STA 3502 may receive HARQ unit #e and HARQ unit #f without errors. Also, the receiving STA 3502 may detect an error for HARQ unit #g. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit a second ACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501 for HARQ unit #e and HARQ unit #f. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit a second NACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501 for HARQ unit #g. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit both the second ACK signal and the second NACK signal.

After receiving the second ACK and/or the second NACK signal, the transmitting STA 3501 may transmit a third PPDU 3530 to the receiving STA 3502. In other words, the receiving STA 3501 may receive the third PPDU 3530 from the receiving STA 3502. For example, the third PPDU 3530 may include HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c. HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c may be set to HARQ index #1. That is, the transmitting STA 3501 may retransmit an erroneous HARQ unit in the first PPDU 3510. Although not shown, the third PPDU 3530 may transmit an additional HARQ unit set to HARQ index #1. For example, when retransmitting HARQ units #a and c allocated to HARQ index #1, the transmitting STA 3510 may additionally transmit new HARQ units #h, i, and j. This may be indicated through the EHT-SIG field. In other words, the EHT-SIG field of the third PPDU 3530 may include information on a retransmitted HARQ unit and a newly transmitted HARQ unit.

For example, the third PPDU 3530 may be transmitted after a second time (for example, SIFS, PIFS, or contention) after the second ACK or second NACK signal is received by the transmitting STA. As an example, the second time may be set to SIFS. In this case, the first PPDU 3510 to the third PPDU 3530 may be transmitted and received within one Transmit Opportunity (TXOP). In other words, the first PPDU 3510 to the third PPDU 3530 may be transmitted/received within the same transmit opportunity (TXOP).

Thereafter, the receiving STA 3502 may transmit a third ACK signal to the transmitting STA 3501. The third ACK signal may include information indicating that HARQ unit #a and HARQ unit #c have been properly transmitted.

That is, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 35, after receiving the first ACK and/or the first NACK signal (or frame), the transmitting STA 3501 may not immediately retransmit HARQ index #1 (HARQ units #a, c). The transmitting STA 3501 may retransmit HARQ index #1 (HARQ units #a, c), after transmitting the second PPDU 3520.

In order to perform the operation as in the embodiment of FIGS. 34 to 35, HARQ index number information and information on the HARQ unit should be included in the PPDU. Therefore, hereinafter, an example for transmitting HARQ index number information and information on the HARQ unit through the EHT-SIG field may be described. According to an embodiment, when one HARQ unit uniquely has one HARQ index number, information on the length of the HARQ unit, whether it is a new packet, the number of retransmissions, and the like may be defined based on the HARQ index number. An example of this case may be set as shown in Table 5. Table 5 may show an example when the maximum HARQ index number that can be transmitted in one PPDU is 8.

TABLE 5 New Number of transmission Length packet or Redundancy version HARQ index number1 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number2 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number3 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number4 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number5 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number6 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number7 X bit Y bit Z bit HARQ index number8 X bit Y bit Z bit

Referring to Table 5, based on each HARQ index number, an example in which information about the length of the HARQ unit (or HARQ index number), whether it is a new packet, the number of retransmissions, and the like may be set. In Table 5, information on the length of the HARQ unit, whether it is a new packet, the number of retransmissions, and the like may be indicated by X, Y, and Z bits, but X, Y, and Z may be set to various values. In addition, although information about the length of the HARQ unit is indicated by X bits in all HARQ index numbers, X may not mean that all of them have the same value. For example, the length of the HARQ unit based on HARQ index number 1 and the length of the HARQ unit based on HARQ index number 2 may be set differently.

The length may mean the number of bits for expressing the length of each HARQ index number. As another example, length may mean the number of OFDM symbols of each HARQ index number. As another example, length may mean the number of codewords. According to an embodiment, length may indicate one of the plurality of types described above.

New packet may indicate whether the corresponding HARQ index number is initial transmission. In other words, the new packet may include information on whether or not the corresponding HARQ index number is initial transmission.

The number of transmission may indicate the number of transmissions of the HARQ unit corresponding to the corresponding HARQ index number. In other words, the number of transmission may include information on the number of transmissions of the HARQ unit corresponding to the corresponding HARQ index number. According to an embodiment, the number of transmission may mean a redundancy version for HARQ IR operation. In other words, the number of transmission may include information about the redundancy version for the HARQ IR operation.

According to an embodiment, when the length of each HARQ index number is commonly operated, x bits may not be set differently for each HARQ index number, but may be set as one representative value. However, in this case, considering retransmission, HARQ units having the same HARQ index number should have the same length for binding in the receiving STA. In addition, since all HARQ index numbers have the same length, there may arise a problem that the length of the HARQ index number transmitted in all PPDUs must be set to be the same. That is, since the length of the HARQ index number is fixed and the maximum HARQ index number is also fixed, the maximum length of the transmitted PPDU may be limited.

According to an embodiment, the EHT-SIG field may include a common field and a user field. For example, the common field may include information about the number of HARQ index numbers. Also, the user field may include information on HARQ index numbers corresponding thereto. In other words, information on the number of HARQ index numbers and HARQ index numbers may be hierarchically configured through a common field and a user field.

According to an embodiment, when at least one HARQ unit constituting a PPDU is set (or mapped) to the same HARQ index number, information about the HARQ index number may be set as shown in Table 6. That is, Table 6 shows an example of information on the HARQ index number, and may indicate information on the number of bits including information on the HARQ index number.

TABLE 6 HARQ index number A bits Number of Unit B bit Length of HARQ unit X bit New packet Y bit Number of transmission or Redundancy version Z bit

Referring to Table 6, ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘X’, ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ of Table 6 may be set to various values. The HARQ index number may mean the HARQ index number for the corresponding PPDU. The number of units may mean the number of HARQ units transmitted in the corresponding PPDU. According to an embodiment, the number of units may not indicate the number of HARQ units. For example, in consideration of a situation in which new HARQ units having different HARQ index numbers may transmit in the middle of retransmission, the number of units may be transmitted in a bitmap format. For example, when the number of units that can be transmitted through one PPDU is 8, the number of units may be expressed as 8 bits. Based on the value of each bit of the number of units, whether the HARQ unit corresponding to each bit is transmitted may be indicated. In other words, the value of each bit of the number of units may include information on whether the HARQ unit corresponding to each bit is transmitted. That is, when the number of units is expressed as ‘10110001’, the number of units may indicate that the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 8th HARQ units are transmitted through the corresponding PPDU. In other words, when the number of unit is set to ‘10110001’, the number of unit may include information related to transmission of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 8th HARQ units through the corresponding PPDU. That is, when the number of unit is expressed as ‘10110001’, the number of unit may indicate that the first, third, fourth, and eighth HARQ units are transmitted in the corresponding PPDU. In addition, the receiving STA may combine the HARQ units that have received the first, third, fourth, and eighth HARQ units having the same HARQ index number received in advance through retransmission and perform HARQ operation.

According to an embodiment, the transmitting STA and the receiving STA may mutually recognize whether or not to retransmit HARQ units of the corresponding HARQ index number and configuration information by the transmitted ACK or NACK signal (or frame). Accordingly, the number of units may not be transmitted.

The Length of HARQ unit may indicate the length of the HARQ unit transmitted in the corresponding PPDU. In other words, the Length of HARQ unit may include information on the length of the HARQ unit transmitted in the corresponding PPDU. For example, the Length of HARQ unit may mean the number of bits of the HARQ unit, the number of OFDM symbols of the HARQ unit, or the number of codewords of the HARQ unit. According to an embodiment, the Length of HARQ unit may indicate one of the plurality of types described above.

In this case, even if the lengths of HARQ units transmitted in the corresponding PPDU have the same value, there is an effect that HARQ units having different lengths can be set in units of PPDUs. In other words, in one PPDU, HARQ units may have the same length. However, compared with other PPDUs, the HARQ unit may have a different length. That is, the problem that the length of the HARQ index number transmitted in all PPDUs described in Table 5 must be set to be the same can be solved.

New packet may indicate whether the corresponding HARQ index number is initial transmission. In other words, the new packet may include information on whether or not the corresponding HARQ index number is initial transmission. The number of transmission may mean a field for indicating the number of transmissions of the HARQ unit or may mean a redundancy version for HARQ IR operation.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart for explaining an example of an operation of a transmitting STA.

Referring to FIG. 36, in step S3610, the transmitting STA may generate a first PPDU. The first PPDU may include a control field, a first data block, and a second data block.

The control field may include information about indexes of the first data block and the second data block. The control field may include an EHT-SIG field. The control field may include various information as well as information about indexes of the first data block and the second data block. For example, the control field may include information on the length of the data block (i.e., the first data block and the second data block), information on whether the data block is a new packet, and information on the number of times of retransmission of the data block. The information on the length of the data block may include information on the number of bits or the number of codewords in the data block. The information on whether the data block is a new packet may include information on whether the data block is a retransmitted packet or an initially transmitted packet. The information on the number of times of retransmission of the data block may include information on the number of times of retransmission of the data block or information on the redundancy version for the HARQ IR operation.

The first data block and the second data block may be a reference for determining whether a packet has an error or a unit for retransmission. For example, the first data block and the second data block may include an HARQ unit. Indexes may be set/configured for the first data block and the second data block. The index may include a HARQ index number. Data blocks set to the same index may be stored together in a buffer or combined. For example, the first data block and the second data block may be configured with a first index. Accordingly, the first data block and the second data block may be configured with the same index.

According to an embodiment, the first PPDU may include only the data block set to the first index (i.e., the first data block and the second data block). That is, the transmitting STA may generate the PPDU based on the data block set to the same index.

In step S3620, the transmitting STA may transmit a first PPDU. Specifically, the transmitting STA may transmit the generated first PPDU to the receiving STA.

In step S3630, the transmitting STA may receive a retransmission request signal. Specifically, the transmitting STA may receive a retransmission request signal from the receiving STA. For example, the transmitting STA may receive a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block. If an error occurs in the first data block in the first PPDU and the second data block is properly transmitted, the transmitting STA may receive a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block. According to an embodiment, the transmitting STA may receive the retransmission request signal after a specified time (for example, SIFS) has elapsed after transmitting the first PPDU.

According to an embodiment, the retransmission request signal may include a NACK signal (or frame) for the first data block and/or an ACK signal (or frame) for the second data block. For example, the transmitting STA may receive only the NACK signal for the first data block. The transmitting STA may confirm that retransmission is required for the first data block based on the NACK signal. For another example, the transmitting STA may receive only the ACK signal for the second data block. The transmitting STA may confirm that retransmission is required for the first data block based on the ACK signal. As another example, the transmitting STA may receive a NACK signal for the first data block and an ACK signal for the second data block. The transmitting STA may determine that retransmission is required for the first data block based on the NACK signal and the ACK signal.

In step S3640, the transmitting STA may transmit a second PPDU including the first data block. That is, the transmitting STA may retransmit the first data block to the receiving STA through the second PPDU. The first PPDU and the second PPDU may be transmitted within the same TXOP.

Thereafter, the transmitting STA may transmit a third PPDU including the third data block. The third data block may be set as a second index. That is, the first PPDU and the second PPDU may include a data block set to the first index (i.e., the first data block and the second data block), and the third PPDU may include a data block set to the second index (i.e., the third data block. The third PPDU may be transmitted in a different TXOP than the first PPDU and the second PPDU.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a receiving STA.

Referring to FIG. 37, in step S3710, the receiving STA may receive a first PPDU. The first PPDU may include a control field, a first data block, and a second data block.

The control field may include information about indexes of the first data block and the second data block. The control field may include an EHT-SIG field. The control field may include various information as well as information about indexes of the first data block and the second data block.

The first data block and the second data block may be a reference for determining whether a packet has an error or a unit for retransmission. For example, the first data block and the second data block may include a HARQ unit. Indexes may be set/configured for the first data block and the second data block. Data blocks set to the same index may be stored together in a buffer or combined. For example, the first data block and the second data block may be configured with a first index. Accordingly, the first data block and the second data block may be configured with the same index.

According to an embodiment, the first PPDU may include only the data block set to the first index (i.e., the first data block and the second data block).

According to an embodiment, the receiving STA may detect that there is an error in the first data block. Also, the receiving STA may confirm that the second data block has been properly received. That is, the receiving STA may confirm that there is no error in the second data block. Thereafter, the receiving STA may store the first data block and the second data block in the first buffer. The receiving STA may store the first data block and the second data block in the first buffer based on the first index.

In step S3720, the receiving STA may transmit a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block. According to an embodiment, the retransmission request signal may include a NACK signal (or frame) for the first data block and/or an ACK signal (or frame) for the second data block. For example, the receiving STA may transmit only the NACK signal for the first data block. The NACK signal may include information for a retransmission request for the first data block. As another example, the receiving STA may transmit only the ACK signal for the second data block. The ACK signal may include information for a retransmission request for the first data block. As another example, the receiving STA may transmit a NACK signal for the first data block and an ACK signal for the second data block. The NACK signal and the ACK signal may include information for a retransmission request for the first data block.

In step S3730, the receiving STA may receive a second PPDU including the first data block. Specifically, the receiving STA may again receive the first data block from the transmitting STA through the second PPDU. Thereafter, the receiving STA may store the retransmitted first data block in the first buffer.

According to an embodiment, the receiving STA may change the first data block transmitted through the first PPDU to the first data block transmitted through the second PPDU. Since the first data block transmitted through the first PPDU includes an error, the receiving STA may change data to the first data block transmitted through the second PPDU. According to an embodiment, the first PPDU and the second PPDU may be received within the same TXOP. According to an embodiment, the receiving STA may receive only the data block (the first/second data block) set to the first index in the TXOP. The receiving STA may newly acquire a TXOP in order to receive the data block (the third data block) set to the second index.

According to an embodiment, the receiving STA may combine the first data block transmitted through the first PPDU with the first data block transmitted through the second PPDU. The receiving STA may combine the first data block transmitted through the first PPDU with the first data block transmitted through the second PPDU through a chase combining or IR scheme for HARQ operation.

In step S3740, the receiving STA may combine the first data block and the second data block. Specifically, the receiving STA may combine data blocks in the same buffer. For example, the receiving STA may combine the first data block and the second data block stored in the first buffer. Also, the receiving STA may combine data blocks set with the same index.

Thereafter, the receiving STA may receive a third PPDU including the third data block. The third data block may be set as a second index. That is, the first PPDU and the second PPDU may include a data block set to the first index (i.e., the first/second data block), and the third PPDU may include a data block set to the second index (i.e., the third data block block).

When the embodiment is implemented in software, the above-described technique may be implemented as a module (process, function, etc.) that performs the above-described function. A module may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory may be internal or external to the processor, and may be coupled to the processor by various well-known means.

The foregoing technical features of this specification are applicable to various applications or business models. For example, the foregoing technical features may be applied for wireless communication of a device supporting artificial intelligence (AI).

Artificial intelligence refers to a field of study on artificial intelligence or methodologies for creating artificial intelligence, and machine learning refers to a field of study on methodologies for defining and solving various issues in the area of artificial intelligence. Machine learning is also defined as an algorithm for improving the performance of an operation through steady experiences of the operation.

An artificial neural network (ANN) is a model used in machine learning and may refer to an overall problem-solving model that includes artificial neurons (nodes) forming a network by combining synapses. The artificial neural network may be defined by a pattern of connection between neurons of different layers, a learning process of updating a model parameter, and an activation function generating an output value.

The artificial neural network may include an input layer, an output layer, and optionally one or more hidden layers. Each layer includes one or more neurons, and the artificial neural network may include synapses that connect neurons. In the artificial neural network, each neuron may output a function value of an activation function of input signals input through a synapse, weights, and deviations.

A model parameter refers to a parameter determined through learning and includes a weight of synapse connection and a deviation of a neuron. A hyper-parameter refers to a parameter to be set before learning in a machine learning algorithm and includes a learning rate, the number of iterations, a mini-batch size, and an initialization function.

Learning an artificial neural network may be intended to determine a model parameter for minimizing a loss function. The loss function may be used as an index for determining an optimal model parameter in a process of learning the artificial neural network.

Machine learning may be classified into supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning.

Supervised learning refers to a method of training an artificial neural network with a label given for training data, wherein the label may indicate a correct answer (or result value) that the artificial neural network needs to infer when the training data is input to the artificial neural network. Unsupervised learning may refer to a method of training an artificial neural network without a label given for training data. Reinforcement learning may refer to a training method for training an agent defined in an environment to choose an action or a sequence of actions to maximize a cumulative reward in each state.

Machine learning implemented with a deep neural network (DNN) including a plurality of hidden layers among artificial neural networks is referred to as deep learning, and deep learning is part of machine learning. Hereinafter, machine learning is construed as including deep learning.

The foregoing technical features may be applied to wireless communication of a robot.

Robots may refer to machinery that automatically process or operate a given task with own ability thereof. In particular, a robot having a function of recognizing an environment and autonomously making a judgment to perform an operation may be referred to as an intelligent robot.

Robots may be classified into industrial, medical, household, military robots and the like according uses or fields. A robot may include an actuator or a driver including a motor to perform various physical operations, such as moving a robot joint. In addition, a movable robot may include a wheel, a brake, a propeller, and the like in a driver to run on the ground or fly in the air through the driver.

The foregoing technical features may be applied to a device supporting extended reality.

Extended reality collectively refers to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). VR technology is a computer graphic technology of providing a real-world object and background only in a CG image, AR technology is a computer graphic technology of providing a virtual CG image on a real object image, and MR technology is a computer graphic technology of providing virtual objects mixed and combined with the real world.

MR technology is similar to AR technology in that a real object and a virtual object are displayed together. However, a virtual object is used as a supplement to a real object in AR technology, whereas a virtual object and a real object are used as equal statuses in MR technology.

XR technology may be applied to a head-mount display (HMD), a head-up display (HUD), a mobile phone, a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a TV, digital signage, and the like. A device to which XR technology is applied may be referred to as an XR device.

The claims recited in the present specification may be combined in a variety of ways. For example, the technical features of the method claims of the present specification may be combined to be implemented as a device, and the technical features of the device claims of the present specification may be combined to be implemented by a method. In addition, the technical characteristics of the method claim of the present specification and the technical characteristics of the device claim may be combined to be implemented as a device, and the technical characteristics of the method claim of the present specification and the technical characteristics of the device claim may be combined to be implemented by a method. 

1. A method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising: receiving, by a receiving station (STA), a first Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the first PPDU includes a control field, a first data block, and a second data block, wherein the control field includes information related to an index of the first data block and the second data block, wherein the first data block and the second data block are set to a first index; transmitting, by the receiving STA, a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block; receiving, by the receiving STA, a second PPDU including the first data block; and combining, by the receiving STA, the first data block and the second data block set to the first index.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control field includes information related to a length of the first data block, a length of the second data block, whether the first data block is retransmitted, or whether the second data block is retransmitted.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the retransmission request signal includes a negative-acknowledgment (NACK) signal for the first data block or a positive-acknowledgment (ACK) signal for the second data block.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving, by the receiving STA, a third PPDU including a third data block, wherein the third data block is set to a second index.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, determining, by the receiving STA, a buffer in which the first data block to the third data block are stored, based on the first index and the second index.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, storing, by the receiving STA, the first data block and the second data block in a first buffer; and storing, by the receiving STA, the third data block in a second buffer.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PPDU and the second PPDU are received within a same Transmit Opportunity (TXOP).
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the control field includes an Extremely High Throughput (EHT)-SIG field, wherein the first data block and the second data block include a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) unit.
 9. A method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising: generating, by a transmitting station (STA), a first Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the first PPDU includes a control field, a first data block, and a second data block, wherein the control field includes information related to an index of the first data block and the second data block, wherein the first data block and the second data block are set to a first index; transmitting, by the transmitting STA, the first PPDU; receiving, by the transmitting STA, a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block; and transmitting, by the transmitting STA, a second PPDU including the first data block.
 10. A receiving station (STA) in a wireless local area network (LAN) system, the receiving STA comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit or receive a wireless signal; and a processor being operatively coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a first Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), wherein the first PPDU includes a control field, a first data block, and a second data block, wherein the control field includes information related to an index of the first data block and the second data block, wherein the first data block and the second data block are set to a first index; transmit a retransmission request signal for the first data block among the first data block and the second data block; receive a second PPDU including the first data block; and combine the first data block and the second data block set to the first index.
 11. The receiving STA of claim 10, wherein the control field includes information related to a length of the first data block, a length of the second data block, whether the first data block is retransmitted, or whether the second data block is retransmitted.
 12. The receiving STA of claim 10, wherein the retransmission request signal includes a negative-acknowledgment (NACK) signal for the first data block or a positive-acknowledgment (ACK) signal for the second data block.
 13. The receiving STA of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a third PPDU including a third data block, wherein the third data block is set to a second index.
 14. The receiving STA of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a buffer in which the first data block to the third data block are stored, based on the first index and the second index.
 15. The receiving STA of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: store the first data block and the second data block in a first buffer; and store the third data block in a second buffer.
 16. The receiving STA of claim 10, wherein the first PPDU and the second PPDU are received within a same Transmit Opportunity (TXOP).
 17. The receiving STA of claim 10, wherein the control field includes an Extremely High Throughput (EHT)-SIG field, wherein the first data block and the second data block include a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) unit. 18-20. (canceled) 